
Book ~ C _ 




/ 



Issued May 18, 1912. 

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

BIOLOGICAL SURVEY— BULLETIN No. 35, Revised 

HENRY W. HENSHAW, Chief 



DISTRIBUTION AND MIGRATION OF 
NORTH AMERICAN SHOREBIRDS 



BY 



WELLS W. COOKE 

Assistant, Biological Survey 




WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFEIOE 

1912 



Issued May 18, 1912. 

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

BIOLOGICAL SURVEY— BULLETIN No. 35, Revised 

HENRY W. HENSHAW, Chief 

f(t9 
DISTRIBUTION AND MIGRATION OF 

NORTH AMERICAN SHOREBIRDS 



BY 



'^ 



WELLS W! COOKE 

Assistant, Biological Survey 




WASHINGTON 
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1912 






LETTER OF TMNSMITTAL 



U. S. Department of Agriculture, 

Biological Survey, 
WasJiington, D. C, March 9, 1912. 

Sm: I have the honor to transmit herewith, for piibhcation, a 
revision of Bulletin No. 35 of the Biological Survey, on the Distribu- 
tion and Mgration of North American Shorebirds, by Wells W. Cooke, 
assistant, Biological Survey. The original edition was issued Octo- 
ber 6, 1910. 

Many species of shorebirds inhabit the United States or pass 
through our territory in migration. These birds possess considerable 
economic importance, and as other wild game like ducks, geese, and 
swans diminish in numbers their value for food and as a means for 
sport will increase. Large numbers are annually killed, and unless 
prompt measures are taken adequately to protect them some of the 
larger and more important kinds are hkely to become extinct, espe- 
cially in the region east of the Mississippi River. A knowledge of the 
summer and winter abodes of the several species and of the routes 
they take in migration is essential to intelKgent legislation in their 
behalf, and, accordingly, all the known facts in regard to this part 
of their life history are here brought together. 
Respectfully, 

Hexry W. Hexshaw. 

CMef, Biological Survey. 
Hon. James Wilsox, 

Secretary of Agriculture. 
2 

iW 14 1912 



CONTENTS. 

Page. 

Introduction „ . , 5 

Distribution 6 

Migration , 10 

North American shorebirds 14 

Red phalarope 14 

Northern phalarope 16 

Wilson phalarope 18 

Avocet 19 

Black-necked stilt 20 

European woodcock ^ 21 

Woodcock 21 

European snipe 23 

Wilson snipe. 23 

Great snipe 26 

Dowitcher 26 

Long-billed dowitcher 28 

Stilt sandpiper 29 

Knot 31 

Purple sandpiper 33 

Aleutian sandpiper 34 

Pribilof sandpiper 34 

Sharp-tailed sandpiper „ 34 

Pectoral sandpiper 35 

White-rumped sandpiper 37 

Baird sandpiper 39 

Least sandpiper 41 

Long-toed stint 42 

Cooper sandpiper 43 

Dunlin 43 

Red-backed sandpiper 43 

Curlew sandpiper 45 

Spoon-bill sandpiper 45 

Semipalmated sandpiper 46 

Western sandpiper 47 

Sanderling 48 

Marbled god wit 50 

Pacific godwit 51 

Hudsonian godwit 52 

Black-tailed godwit 53 

Green-shank 54 

Common red-shank -, 54 

Greater yellow-legs 54 

Yellow-legs 56 

Solitary sandpiper 58 

Western solitary sandpiper 60 

Green sandpiper 61 

Wood sandpiper 61 

Willet 61 

3 



4 CONTENTS. 

North American shorebirds — Continued. Page. 

Western willet 62 

Wandering tattler 63 

Ruff 64 

Upland plover 64 

Buff-breaeted sandpiper 67 

Spotted sandpiper 69 

Long-billed curlew 71 

Hudsonian curlew 72 

Eskimo curlew 74 

European curlew 76 

Whimbrel 77 

Bristle-thigbed curlew 77 

Lapwing 77 

Dotterel 77 

Black-bellied plover 78 

European golden plover 79 

Golden plover 80 

Pacific golden plover 85 

Killdeer 85 

Santo Domingo killdeer 88 

Semipalmated plover 88 

Ringed plover 90 

Little ringed plover 90 

Piping plover 91 

Snowy plover 92 

Mongolian plover 93 

Azara ring plover 93 

Wilson plover 93 

Rufous-naped plover 94 

Mountain plover 94 

Surf bird 95 

Turnstone 9.6 

Ruddy turnstone 97 

Black turnstone 98 

European oyster-catcher 99 

Oyster-catcher 99 

Frazar oyster-catcher 99 

Black oyster-catcher 100 

Stone curlew 100 

Mexican jacana 100 

Black jacana 100 

Colombian jacana 100 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Page. 

Plate I. Yellow-legs ( Totanus flavipes) 56 

II. Upland plover (Bartramia longicauda) 64 

III. Spotted sandpiper (Actitis Tnacularia) 68 

IV. Killdeer (Oxyechus vociferus) ...,..;,...,...,.,.. 84 



DISTRIBUTION AND MIGRATION OF NORTH AMERICAN 

SHOREBIRDS. 



INTRODUCTION. 

Shorebirds form a valuable national resource, and it is the plain 
duty of the present generation to pass on to posterity this asset 
undiminished in value. Consistent and intelligent legislation in 
favor of any group of birds must be founded on extended, accurate 
information, and must include knowledge of the breeding and distri- 
bution of the birds — where they spend the summer, whither they 
retire in winter, and when and by what routes they migrate. The 
present bulletin supplies this needed information so far as it is now 
available. 

Consideration of our shorebirds (Limicolse) from an economic point 
of view is recent. The early settlers found ducks, geese, and swans 
swarming in certain sections of the United States, and grouse and 
turkeys very abundant. The size and toothsomeness of these birds 
made them important objects of pursuit for food, while the shore- 
birds were considered unworthy of notice. As the great flocks of 
ducks and geese along the Atlantic coast diminished in numbers, the 
attention of gunners, especially of market hunters, was turned to 
the shorebirds, then in countless numbers. A generation of constant 
harassment spring and fall has almost exterminated some of the 
larger species and has very greatly reduced even the smaller ones. 
The time has come when this indiscriminate slaughter must cease if 
the present remnant of the shorebirds is to be preserved. 

The range of our shorebirds extends from ocean to ocean, so that 
all parts of the United States have an interest in their preservation. 
These birds feed naturally in the open country or along the open 
shore, where they are easily found and are constantly subject to 
attack. The prairies of the Mississippi Valley in past years formed 
the great highway of spring migration. Flock followed flock in 
almost endless succession across the prairies of Kansas, Nebraska, 
and the Dakotas, over a region that of late years has passed under 
the plow. As this area becomes more densely populated the shore- 
birds, once so abundant, are likely to become extinct unless active 
measures are taken for their preservation. 

There are excellent reasons for protecting and preserving the 
shorebirds. Some of them, especially the several kinds of plovers, 

5 



6 IsTOETH AMEBICAS" SHOEEBIEDS. 

perform important serriee in destroying nrrz:::.? ioseefe. Hie Se^ 
of many of tiiem, even of tlie smaller Mn \.^ 1 .? a lo^ food Tafaie, 
and some of tlie larger species — tlie .;:: _;.i. :. z : - -rii 1:1 i bbck-b^lied 

ploTeis, and thb cnrle'WB — were in the times of :_ :: il^midaiiee 
important articles of diet. Their purr::: ::: ~ ::' "_tZ ^1::~ azre 
shot oTer decoys, demands a high derr - : : : ^ 1::. . :.:^ . : -: : ~ : :: '- -::.-- 
time of many hiinters. Xor should : :. - t : : :: ^ " : : r t : : . : : : : :: : 
ignored. The graceful forms and ni ; : : ; i_- : : : L. : = t :: : - .-':::: 
at the edge of the breakers are an inter^trng si;:_- - :^ : ; :. .-: : 
seashore visitors. The silencing of tiieir melodioiis caife tt: :_. . \ - i 
loss to every lover of nature. Finally :^ z: :y be said in :: :: : ^ : 
that not one of the shorebirds ever does ^i:"^ ^^rm, 'wiai'^ n :. " ..: ~- 
proved of great Talue to agriciiltnre. T..:-:: :. i-eoonis _^~- :^' :. 
credit side. 

The shorebirds are among the most "widely distnbuted of all birds. 
As far to thie northward as man has foimd Isod slicHdyids Iiieed, 
while in winter they Tisit the tropical and Antaictie dbi^f^ Hue 
distances traversed in their migrations probabV s^'arage graalier 
than those of any other family, and the shoreh:: - : :ibal^ eaceeed 
aE others in the mimber of miles traveled in : : ::z.t : :^_r. 

DisTBrBTmoir- 
The shorebirds aire repnesemted in ]!^©itii Am^neaL hj 76 ^ecies 
and 9 subspecies, a total of 85 lecognized foram; bat the fi^lowii^ 7 

of these do not range so far norfli as tfce United States: 



S-TiioTLB-naped plorer {Ochihodromus v.%1- 

■sonius rnfinuchus). 
Stone curlew ((Edicnemus tistriatus), 
Oolombian jacana (Parra melanopygiB.). 
Black jacana {Parra nigra).. 

Tliere remain 78 species and - 
Stai.es and northward, but 5 of 
as follows: 



Oay-^aa^e 'h:^m^s^^{^bpSmcgfiBrmsmBffMm^l£ ). 
A3^sa,Bm^jdmfsri^^fmi^taxas33mr^). 
Saaaie DtoBmb^o laDdbss' ((fSxeg&iimM imim/f- 



LiXf.Sc' t^I'f lUUliU 



'E'crB.GTy.M\ Species Occtthbikg is- JIvIoikch: 



Gold-en plox^: _ : , : 



European snipe (GaUinago gaUinago). 
Blact-tailed godidt (Limosa Zm ■';: 
"Wliinibrel {Numenius phsp.opu^ 

Fifteen other species from the Eastern Hemisphei© are kDowm 
as stragg-T . - i. the mainland of Xorth America : 

StSAOGCLEES ISr IfOETH AmEEICA EE^OM the KaSTEB3s HEinSPSXHE. 



European -«roodcock (Scolopaxruslicola). 

Great naipe {GaUinago media). 

Long- toed stint {Pisobia daTnacensis). 

Dunlin {Pelidna alpina). 

Cnrle-vr sandpiper {JErolia ferruginea). 

Spoon-bill sandpiper {thirynorhynchus 

pygTnsus). 
Green-aliani: {Glottic nebularm). 



B.ed-#iani: {Toiaruis totanus)^ 

Green sandpiper \^Hdo5j-oTn.m or-jpJiru-F' 

Wood sandpiper {E]qja.c.o^'};~'u,f^ :l2'"e:^,z 

EilH (P: '"ipoB^amxj^ 

Lapidnz \ "limwvmfMmM^. 

Dott-erel \^^tnirL' ' ^ 

Ilttfe aioged pi: " 7 : ^Z : jMa).. 

MoHBgdKim ^Dver \MgiaUiu ntonp oh). 



DISTRIBUTION". 



Deducting these, there are 58 species of shorebirds that belong to 
the regular avifauna of North America north of Mexico. Not all of 
these, however, occur in the United States. The sharp-tailed sand- 
piper is a regular migrant through Alaska, but is not found elsewhere 
in North America. The Pacific godwit, bristle-thighed curlew, and 
Pacific golden plover breed in Alaska and migrate thence to Asia and 
the Pacific islands. The ringed plover breeds in northeastern North 
America and migrates to Europe. The turnstone breeds in both 
northeastern and northwestern Arctic America, but migrates to 
Europe, Asia, and the Pacific islands without coming regularly to 
the United States; while the Aleutian and the Pribilof sandpipers 
both breed and winter in Alaska. A further deduction of these 8 
species leaves 50 species which regularly visit the United States 
during some part of the year. 

The shorebirds as a group are far northern breeders. The ma- 
jority of them breed in the region of the Arctic Circle, and several 
range north to the known limits of land. The majority do not breed 
so far south as the United States, and hence are known there only as 
migrants, or in the winter season. 

Species that Breed Wholly North op the United States. 



Red phalarope {Phalaropus fulicarius) . 
Northern phalarope (Lobipes lohatus). 
Dowitcher {Macrorhamphus griseus). 
Long-billed dowitcher ( Macrorhamphus 

griseus scolopaceus) . 
Stilt sandpiper {Micropalama himanto- 

pus). 
Knot ( Tringa canutus) . 
Purple sandpiper {Arquatella maritima). 
Aleutian sandpiper (Arquatella maritima 

couesi). 
Pribilof sandpiper (Arquatella maritima 

ptilocnemis) . 
Sharp-tailed sandpiper (Pisohia aurita). 
Pectoral sandpiper (Pisohia maculata). 
White-rumped sandpiper (Pisohia fusci- 

collis). 
Baird sandpiper (Pisohia hairdi). 
Least sandpiper (Pisohia minutilla). 
Red-backed sandpiper (Pelidna alpina 

sakhalina). 
Semipalmated sandpiper (Ereunetes pu- 

sillus). 
Western sandpiper (Ereunetes mauri) . 
Sander ling (Calidris leucophsea). 



Pacific godwit (Limosa lapponica haueri). 
Hudsonian godwit (Limosa hxmastica). 
Greater yellow-legs (Totanus melanoleu- 

cus). 
Yellow-legs (Totanus flavipes). 
Wandering tattler (Heteractitis incanus). 
Buff -breasted sandpiper (Tryngites suhru- 

ficollis). 
Hudsonian curlew (Numenius hudsonicus). 
Eskimo curlew (Numenius horealis). 
Bristle-thighed curlew (Numenius tahiti- 

ensis). 
Black-bellied plover (Squatarola squata- 

rola). 
Golden plover (Charadrius dominicus). 
Pacific golden plover (Charadrius domini- 
cus fulvus). 
Semipalmated plover (Mgialitis semipal- 

mata). 
Ringed plover (Mgialitis hiaticula). 
Surf bird (Aphriza virgata). 
Turnstone (Arenaria interpres). 
Ruddy turnstone (Arenaria interpres mo- 

rinella). 
Black turnstone (Arenaria melanocephala) . 



Species that Breed in Both the United States and Canada. 



Wilson phalarope (Steganopus tricolor). 
Avocet (Recurvirostra americana). 
Woodcock (Philohela minor). 
Wilson snipe (Gallinago delicata). 
Marbled godwit (Limosa fedoa) . 
Solitary sandpiper (Helodromas solitar- 

ius). 
Western solitary sandpiper (Helodromas 

salitarius cinnamomeus) . 
Willet (Catoptrophorus semipalmatus) . 



Western willet (Catoptrophorus semipal- 
matus inornatus). 

Upland plover (Bartramia longicauda). 

Spotted sandpiper (Actitis macularia). 

Long-billed curlew (Numenius america- 
nus). 

Killdeer (Oxyechus vociferus). 

Piping plover (Mgialitis meloda). 

Black oyster-catcher (Hsematopus bach- 
mani). 



8 



KOETH AMEEICAK SHOEEBIBDS. 



Species that do not Breed North or the United States, with Northern 

LmiT OP Breeding Range. 



Black-necked stilt {Himantojpus mexica- 

nus), Oregon. 
Snowy plover {^gialitis nivosa), Nevada. 
Wilson plover {Ochthodromus wilsonius), 

Virginia. 
Mountain plover {Podasocys montanus), 

Montana. 



Oyster-catcher {Hxmatopus palliatus), 

South Carolina. 
Frazar oyster-catcher (Hasmatopus fra- 

zari), California. 
Mexican jacana (Jacana spinosa), Texas. 



Species that Breed Chiefly North of the Arctic Circle, with the Northern- 
most Latitude at Which the Species has been Observed in the Western 
Hemisphere. 



Red phalarope {Phalaropus falicarius), 

82°. 
Northern phalarope {Lobipes lohatus)y 74°. 
Long-billed dowitcher ( Macrorhamphus 

griseus scolopaceus), 71°. 
Stilt sandpiper (Micropalama himanto- 

pus), 69°. 
Knot {Tringa canutus), 83°. 
Purple sandpiper (Arquatella mantima), 

74°. 
Pectoral sandpiper {Pisohia maculata), 

71°. 
White-rumped sandpiper {Pisohia fusd- 

collis), 69°. 
Baird sandpiper {Pisohia hairdi), 71°. 
Least sandpiper {Pisohia minutilla), 70°. 
Red-backed sandpiper {Pelidna alpina 

saTchalina), 12° . 
Semipalmated sandpiper {Ereunetes pusil- 

lus), 71°. 



Sanderling {Calidris leucophaea) , 82°. 
Hudsonian god wit {Limosa hasmastica), 

69°. 
Buff -breasted sandpiper ( Tryngites suhru- 

ficollis), 71°. 
Hudsonian curlew {Numenius hudsoni- 

cus), 69°. 
Eskimo curlew {Numenius horealis), 69°. 
Black-bellied plover {Squatarola squata- 

rola), 71°. 
Golden plover {Charadrius dominicus), 

77°. 
Pacific golden plover {Charadrius domini- 
cus fulvus), 65°, 
Semipalmated plover {^gialitis semipal- 

mata), 75°. 
Ringed plover {^gialitis hiaticula), 78°, 
Turnstone {Arenaria interpres), 83°. 
Ruddy turnstone {Arenaria interpres mori- 

nella), 74°. 



Species that Breed in Both Eastern and Western Hemispheres. 



Red phalarope {Phalaropus fulicarius) . 

Northern phalarope {Lohipes lohatus). 

Knot {Tringa canutus). 

Purple sandpiper {Arquatella maritima). 

Sanderling (Calidris leucophsea). 

Pacific god wit {Limosa lapponica haueri). 



Black-bellied plover {Squatarola squata- 
rola). 

Pacific golden plover ( Charadrius domini- 
cus fulvus). 

Ringed plover {Mgialitis hiaticula). 

Turnstone {Arenaria interpres). 



Species that Winter in the United States and Southward, 



Avocet {Recurvirostra americana). 
Black-necked stilt {Himantoptis Tnexi- 

canus) . 
Woodcock {Philohela minor). 
Wilson snipe {Gallinago delicata). 
Dowitcher {Macrorhamphus griseus). 
Long-billed dowitcher {Macrorhamphus 

griseus scolopaceus). 
Purple sandpiper {Arquatella Trmritima). 
Least sandpiper {Pisohia minutilla). 
Red-backed sandpiper {Pelidna alpina 

saTchalina). 
Semipalmated sandpiper {Ereunetes pusil- 

lus.) 
Western sandpiper {Ereunetes mauri). 
Sanderling {Calidris leucophaea) . 
Marbled godwit {Limosa fedoa) . 
Greater yellow-legs {Totanus melano- 

leucus.) 
Yellow-legs ( Totanus flavipes) . 
Western willet {Catoptrophorus semipal- 

vnatus inomatus). - 



Spotted sandpiper {Actitis macularia). 

Long-billed curlew {Numenius ameri- 
canus). 

Black-bellied plover {Squatarola squat- 
arola). 

Killdeer {Oxyechus vociferus). 

Semipalmated plover {^gialitis semipal- 
mata). 

Piping plover {JEgialitis meloda). 

Snowy plover {jEgialitis nivosa). 

Wilson plover {Ochthodromus wilsonius). 

Mountain plover {Podasocys montanus) . 

Ruddy turnstone {Arenaria interpres 
morinella). 

Black turnstone {Arenaria melanocephala) . 

Oyster-catcher {Haematopus palliatus). 

Frazar oyster-catcher {Haematopus fra- 
zari). 

Black oyster-catcher {Haematopus bach- 
mani). 

Mexican jacana {Jacana spinosa). 



DISTRIBUTIOIT. 



Species that do not Winter North of South America. 



Red phalarope (Phalaropusfulicarius). 
Northern phalarope {Lobipes lohatus). 
Wilson phalarope (Steganopus tricolor). 
Stilt sandpiper( Micropalama himantopus) . 
Knot ( Tringa canutus) . 
Pectoral sandpiper (Pisobia maculata) . 
White-rumped sandpiper (Pisobia fusci- 

collis). 
Baird sandpiper (Pisobia bairdi). 
Hudsonian godwit (Limosa hsemastica). 



Solitary sandpiper (Helodromas solitarius) . 
Western solitary sandpiper (Helodromas 

solitarius cinnamomeus) . 
Upland plover (Bartramia longicauda). 
Buff-breasted sandpiper (Tryngites sub- 

ruficollis). 
Eskimo curlew (Numenius borealis). 
Golden plover (Charadrius dominicus). 
Surf bird (Aphriza virgata). 



The three following species winter in the West Indies or Central 
America and southward, but are not found at this season in the United 
States : Willet ( CatoptropJiorus semipalmatus) , wandering tattler {Heter- 
actitis incanus), and Hudsonian curlew (Numenius Jiudsonicus) . The 
purple sandpiper (Arquatella maritima) remains in winter as far north 
as Greenland and does not range south of the United States; while 
the Aleutian sandpiper (Arquatella maritima couesi) and the Pribilof 
sandpiper (Arquatella maritima ptilocnemis) do not occur in winter 
south of Alaska. 



Species that Range South in Winter to South America, with the Southern 

Limit op the Winter Range. 



Red phalarope (Phalaropus fulicarius), 

Falkland Islands. 
Northern phalarope (Lobipes lobatus), 

Peru and probably farther. 
Wilson phalarope (Steganopus tricolor), 

Falkland Islands. 
Black-necked stilt (Himantopus mexi- 

canus), Peru. 
Dowitcher (Macrorhamphus griseus), 

Brazil. 
Long-billed dowitcher ( Macrorhamphus 

griseus scolopaceus), probably Peru. 
Stilt sandpiper (Micropalama himanto- 
pus), Uruguay. 
Knot (Tringa canutus), Tierra del Fuego. 
Pectoral sandpiper (Pisobia maculata), 

Argentina, 
White-rumped sandpiper (Pisobia fusci- 

collis), Tierra del Fuego. 
Baird sandpiper (Pisobia bairdi), Chile. 
Least sandpiper (Pisobia minutilla), 

Chile. 
Semipalmated sandpiper (Ereunetes pu^il- 

lus), Patagonia. 
Western sandpiper (Ereunetes mauri), 

Venezuela. 
Sanderling (Calidris leucophaea), Argen- 
tina. 
Hudsonian godwit (Limosa haemastica), 

Strait of Magellan. 
Greater yellow-legs (Totanus melanoleu- 

cus), Strait of Magellan. 



Yellow-legs (Totanus flavipes), Strait of 

Magellan. 
Solitary sandpiper (Helodromas solitarius) j 

Argentina. 
Western solitary sandpiper (Helodromas 

solitarius cinnamomeus), not known. 
Willet (Catoptrophorus semipalmatus), 

Peru. 
Upland plover (Bartramia longicauda), 

Argentina. 
Buff-breasted sandpiper ( Tryngites sub- 

ruficollis), Argentina. 
Spotted sandpiper (Actitis macularia), 

Peru. 
Hudsonian curlew (Numenius hudsoni- 

cus), Chile. 
Eskimo curlew (Numenius borealis), Pata- 
gonia. 
Black-bellied plover (Squatarola squa- 

tarola), Peru. 
Golden plover (Charadrius dominicus), 

Argentina. 
Semipalmated plover (Mgialitis semipal- 

mata), Argentina. 
Snowy plover (Mgialitis nivosa), Chile. 
Surf bird (Aphriza virgata), Chile. 
Ruddy turnstone (Arenaria interpres mo- 

rinella), Chile. 
Oyster -catcher (Haematopus palliatus), 

Chile. 



10 XOETH JJVIEEICAX SHOEEBIEDS. 

Species that OcrrB ix tbie ITxited States Oxxt as Migeaxts, Bezedixg ix the 
Fae Xobth axd WrsTEEiNG to the Southwabd. 

Red plialarope 'Fh/iJarGpus fuJiccwius). Hudsonian godwit (Lim.osa haemastica). 
Xortliem jjlialarope {Lohipes lohatus). , Buff-breasted sandpiper {Tryngites suh- 
Stilt33m.dj)ij>eT{Mia'opalavmMmmitopus). \ rujicoUis). 



Knot {Tringa cwiutus). 

Pectoral sandpiper (Pisohia maculaia). 

Widte-nimped sandpiper {Pisobia fusd- 



Hndsonian curler '^^Xumenius hudsoni- 

cus). 
Eskimo cuilew {Xumerdus horealis). 



coUu). Golden plover {Charadriu^ domimcus). 

Baixd sandpiper {Pisohia hairdi). Suri bird {Aphriza virgata). 

SUMMARY. 

Species tbat do not breed north of the United States 7 

Species breeding in the United States and Canada 15 

Total species breeding in the United States 22 

Species breeding wholly north of the United States 36 

Species breeding north of and wintering in the United States 15 

Species breeding or wintering in the United States 37 

Species occuring in the United States as migrants only 13 

Total species occurring in the United State? 50 

Species occurring regularly in Arctic America, but not in the United States. . . 8 

Total species occurring regularly in Xorth America north of Mexico oS 

European species straggling to Greenland 5 

Eastern Hemisphere species stra^ling to North America 15 

Southern sp>ecies not ranging north to the United States 7 

Total species and subspecies in Xorth America 85 

MIGRATION. 

The shorebirds as a group are among the most wide ranging of 
migrants. TThile a few. for example the jacanas, do not migrate at 
all, most shorebirds migrate more than a thousand miles each season, 
and many lengthen their journeys to 7,000 miles. The most wonder- 
ful feature of their migration is the enormous distance covered in a 
single flight. As explained in the account of the golden plover, many 
flocks of plover fly without resting from Xova Scotia to northern 
South A m erica, a distance of about 2,500 miles. Many individuals 
of other species perform the same flight, notably the Eskimo curlew, 
while in the case of the Hudsonian godwit and the upland plover 
the principal place of departure in fall migration is the coast of the 
United States north of Virginia, and many of the flocks make stops 
in the Lesser Antilles on their way to South America. 

That the same route is employed by other species is shown by the 
large number of shorebirds annually visiting the Bermudas. These 
islands he about SOO miles off the coast of South Carolina and are 
in a nearly direct line from southern Xova Scotia to the Lesser AntiEes. 
Years ago, when shorebirds were far more numerous than now. many 
flocks stopped at the Bermudas in faU migration. The most common 
species were the pectoral, white-rumped, least, and semipalmated 
sandpipers, the sanderling, greater yellow-legs, lesser yellow-legs, 
sohtary sandpiper, spotted sandpiper, Hudsonian curlew, semipal- 
mated plover, tumstone, and TVilson snipe. All of these came in 
sufficient numbers to show that their visits were not accidental, and 
evidently they had merely paused a few days on their journey to the 
Lesser Ant flies. The kiUdeer appeared regularly in Xovember and 



MIGEATION. 11 

remained through the winter, but since this species scarcely goes 
north of New England, the individuals wintering on the Bermudas 
must have visited the islands for the purpose of remaining there 
through the cold season. Specimens of eleven other species of shore- 
birds have been taken in the Bermudas. They are less common vis- 
itors, and most of these individuals were probably on their way across 
the ocean to the Lesser Antilles. 

This route, however, is not followed by these species in their return 
in the spring, and there seems to be no evidence as yet that any 
species of shorebird migrates regularly in the spring across the ocean 
from the Lesser Antilles to the coast of New England or to eastern 
Canada. Indeed, shorebirds migrating north in spring through the 
Lesser Antilles are almost unknown. 

Along the Atlantic coast shorebirds are many times more numerous 
in fall than in spring, while in the Mississippi Valley there is no such 
pronounced difference of numbers at the two seasons. This fact, 
taken in connection with the rarity of all species of shorebirds during 
the spring migration in the West Indies, where they are abundant fall 
visitors, seems to indicate that in the case of most of the species of 
shorebirds that migrate south in fall along the Atlantic coast some 
individuals pass northward in spring by way of the Mississippi Val- 
ley. The Eskimo curlew used to follow this route, as still do most 
of the golden plover. The statement applies also largely to the 
long-billed dowitcher, stilt, white-rumped, and semipalmated sand- 
pipers, and the lesser yellow-legs. This elliptical migration route 
is in the case of most species not less than 6,000 miles in its north and 
south diameter, nor less than 2,000 miles east and west, while the 
winter home of the white-rumped sandpiper is 9,000 miles from its 
breeding grounds. 

The Hawaiian Islands lie in the Pacific Ocean 2,000 miles from the 
nearest mainland to the eastward and more than 3,000 miles from the 
Asiatic coast. The nearest point of Alaska is about 2,000 miles north. 
Five species of shorebirds that summer in Alaska are found in the 
Hawaiian Islands during the winter season. They are the turnstone, 
Pacific golden plover, sanderling, bristle-thighed curlew, and wander- 
ing tattler. There is every reason to believe that these Hawaiian 
birds come from Alaska and that they make the 2,000-mile trip at a 
single flight. All 'of these species occur farther south in Oceania, 
but there seems to be no evidence that any of them use the Hawaiian 
Islands as a stopping place on the way to a more southern home. Ap- 
parently all the birds that fly to the Hawaiian Islands remain there 
through the winter, while the southern islands of Oceania are popu- 
lated by individuals that have migrated along the Asiatic coast. 
It is remarkable that in the case of both the turnstone and the 
plover the first individuals to arrive on the Hawaiian Islands in 
the fall are in good condition or even fat, while the cm*lew and plover 



12 XOETH AMEEICAK SHOEEBIEDS. 

that reach the Lesser Antilles by a long flight over the Atlantic Ocean 
are reported as emaciated. 

Shorebirds present some idiosyncrasies of migration that are worthy 
of mention. The sharp-tailed sandpiper {Puobia aurita) breeds 
on the northern coast of Siberia, and in fall migration crosses to 
Alaska and then back again to Asia and by way of Japan and China 
reaches its winter home in Australia. The most eastern point of its 
range in Alaska — Xorton Sound — is some 500 miles east of its sunmier 
home in Siberia. As the species is not known in Alaska in spring, 
its migration route is probably eUiptical, and the northern route 
in spring is probably across the mainland of Asia. 

Some individuals of the marbled godwit {Limosa fedoa) have a 
unique ndgi^ation route. From their breeding grounds in Xorth 
Dakota and Saskatchewan some of these buds formerly migrated 
almost dnectly east more than a thousand miles to the Atlantic 
coast, while others traveled a thousand miles due west to the coast 
of southern Alaska. 

Some birds breed in the Western Hemisphere and winter in the 
Eastern. For example, the Pacific godwit (Limosa Japponica haueri) 
breeds on the western shores of Alaska, whence it passes by way of the 
Commander Islands, Japan, and China to its winter home in Australia. 
The bristle-thighed curlew (Xumeniiis taJtitiensis) follows a somewhat 
similar route. The wandering tattler (Heteractitis incanus) breeds 
in Alaska and some individuals pass in fall migi^ation to Asia, Hawaii, 
and Oceania, while others continue down the American coast to the 
Galapagos. 

A long: misiration route from the eastern side of Xorth America is 
foHowed by the ringed plover (^gialitis liiaticula). Some individuals 
breed in Greenland and still farther west in EUesmere Land and 
about Cumberland Sound, whence they pass east and southeast to 
the European coast and winter from the Mediterranean to southern 
Africa. 

Both these last routes are used by the tumstone {Arenaria inter- 
pres) . The individuals that breed in Greenland and Ellesmere Land 
migrate southeast to Europe and Africa, while those that breed in 
Alaska, even as far east as Point Barrow, migrate to the west and 
southwest to winter in Asia and Oceania. 

Another migration route, probably unique, is that taken by the 
considerable numbers of the mountain plover (Podasocys montanus) 
that winter in the Sacramento VaUey and elsewhere in California. 
The farthest west and north that the species is known to breed is 
Montana; hence whether the California wintering birds come from 
Montana or from the more southern districts, they apparently form 
an exception to the general rule that Xorth American birds do not 
winter farther west than they breed. 

Though manv of the shorebirds breedino; in Xorth America T^dnter 
in the southern part of South America, none of them breed in their 



MIGRATION. 



13 



winter home. Special attention needs to be called to this fact, 
because nearly a dozen species of this family — among which may be 
noted particularly the greater and lesser yellow-legs and the white- 
rumped sandpiper — have been reported as breeding near the southern 
end of South America. In no case has it been claimed that the eggs 
have been found, and all the records are based on the finding of 
young not fully grown or in most cases simply from the presence of 
individuals during the usual breeding season of local species. This 
latter reason is not even presumptive of breeding. Nearly a hun- 
dred species of North American birds escape the winter of the North- 
ern Hemisphere by visiting South America, and they remain there 
through what is the breeding season of the resident species, but do 
not themselves undertake any household cares. It may be stated 
positively that none of the Limicolse that breed north of the equator 
breed also in the southern part of their range. 

Species that are Regular Migrants Spring and Fall on the Atlantic and 
THE Pacific Coasts and in the Interior. 



American avocet {Recurvirostra ameri- 

cana). 
Wilson snipe (Gallinago delicata). 
Least sandpiper {Pisohia minutilla). 
Greater yellow-legs {Totanus melanoleu- 

cus). 



Spotted sandpiper {Actitis macularia) . 
Black-bellied plover {Squatarola squata- 

rola). 
Killdeer {Oxyechus vociferus). 
Semipalmated plover {Mgialitis semipal- 

mata). 



Species that are Regular Migrants Spring and Fall on both the Atlantic 
AND THE Pacific Coasts, but are Rare or Wanting in the Interior. 



Hudsonian curlew {Numenius hudsoni- 

cus). 
Ruddy turnstone (Arenaria interpres 

Tnorinella). 



Red phalarope {Phalaropus fulicarius) . 
Northern phalarope (Lobipes lohatus). 
Red-backed sandpiper {Pelidna alpina 

sakhalina). 
Sanderling {Calidris leucophaea). 

Species that are Regular Migrants Spring and Fall on the Atlantic Coast 
AND in the Interior, but are Rare or Wanting on the Pacific Coast. 

Solitary sandpiper (Helodromas solita- 
rius). 



Woodcock (Philohela minor). 

Knot {Tringa canutus). 

Pectoral sandpiper {Pisohia maculatd). 



Piping plover {jEgialitis meloda). 



Species that are Regular Migrants Spring and Fall on the Pacific Coast and 
IN the Interior, but are Rare or Wanting on the Atlantic Coast. 



Wilson phalarope (Steganopus tricolor). 
Long-billed dowitcher ( Macrorhamphus 

griseus scolopaceus) . 
Western willet (Catoptrophorus semipal- 

matus inornatus). 



Long-billed curlew {Numenius ameri- 
canus) . 



Species that Occur in Migration Principally on the Pacific Coast. 



Black-necked stilt {Himantopus mexica- 

nus). 
Western sandpiper {Ereunetes mauri). 
Western solitary sandpiper {Helodromas 

solitarius cinnamomeus) . 
Wandering tattler {Heteractitis incanus). 



Snowy plover {Mgialitis nivosa). 
Surf bird {Aphriza virgata). 
Black turnstone {Arenaria melanocephala) . 
Black oyster-catcher {Haematopus hach- 
m,ani). 



Western Species that Come East in Migration to the Atlantic Coast. 



Wilson phalarope {Steganopus tricolor). 
Long-billed dowitcher {Macrorhamphus 
griseus scolopaceus). 



Baird sandpiper {Pisohia hairdi). 
Western sandpiper {Ereunetes mauri). 



14 I^^OETH AMEEICAl^ SHOEEBIRDS. 

The data on the breeding and wintering of the shorebirds has 
been collated from all available printed sources, fi'oni the manuscript 
reports of the field naturahsts of the Biological Survey, and from the 
specimens and catalogues of the United States National Museum. 
The dates of migration have been obtained priucipally from the 
migration schedules sent in by the several hundi'ed observers in 
the United States and Canada, who for a quarter of a century 
have contributed to the Biological Survey spring and fall reports of 
their observations. It is a pleasure to testify to the earnest and con- 
scientious efforts these observers have put forth for the solving of 
some of the phases of Nature's great migration problem and to 
return thanks to them for their painstaking labors. 

NORTH AMERICAN SHOREBIRDS. 
Red Plialarope. Phalaropus fulwarius (Liim.). 

Breeding range. — The summer home of the red phalarope is 
circumpolar, and the species is known at this season from the whole 
northern coast and islands of America, Europe, and Asia, except a 
few regions, the most notable of which is the eastern coast of Green- 
land. It has been known to breed south to St. ^Michael, Alaska, 
63° N. (Nelson) ; to Cape Esk im o, west coast of Hudson Bay, 61° N. 
(Preble); Hudson Strait, 62° N. (Turner); and to the south end of 
Greenland, 60° N. (Schalow). It has been noted north to 83° N., 
north of Spitzbergen (Sverdrup); 82° 30' N. on Ellesmere Island 
(Feilden); Melville Island, 74° 30' N. (Parry); and Point Barrow, 
71° N. (Murdoch). It is especially abundant as a breeder along the 
coast and islands of Arctic America. 

Winter range. — The Old World winter home of the species extends 
south to Morocco, India, China, and New Zealand. Knowledge of 
the winter range in the Western Hemisphere is very meager. The 
species has been noted in the extreme southern parts of South 
America on the Falkland Islands (Schalow), and Juan Fernandez 
(Sharpe); in November, when it may have been migrating, at 
Coquimbo, northern Chile ( Salvin) ; on December 5 in Chile, locality 
not designated (Sharpe) ; specimens are recorded from Argentiua and 
Colombia (Sharpe), without date or locaUty. The lack of records for 
this species is remarkable. There seem to be no records whatever for 
the West Indies nor for the whole of middle America, except the 
western coast of Lower Cahfornia, where the species is ordinarily a 
rare spring and f aU migrant, but occasionally is seen in large flocks 
(Kaeding). Stragglers have been noted at Mount Pleasant, S. C, 
December 4, 1900 (Wayne); on the coast of northern Lower Cah- 
fornia, February 21 (Belding); and occasionally iu winter at San 
Diego, Calif. (McGregor). 



EED PHALAROPE. 15 

Migration range. — Enormous flocks of the reel phalarope have been 
noted on the Atlantic Ocean during both spring and fall migration. 
These flocks are common and regular around Newfoundland ; become 
less common southward off the coast of Maine; and are rare off the 
coast of Massachusetts, except when driven inshore by storms. The 
red phalarope swims as lightly and easily as any duck, and during 
migration has been noted repeatedly gathering its food from the 
surface of the ocean. Indeed, it seems to have an aversion to land 
except during the breeding season. The migration route by which 
these flocks of red phalarope pass south after they leave Massa- 
chusetts is unl^nown. The species is known only as a rare straggler 
on the coast of 'the United States south of Long Island, and as 
already remarked is not recorded from the \Yest Indies nor from the 
east coast of South America north of Argentina. On the Pacific 
coast the species is an abundant breeder in Alaska, and the flocks 
pass along the coast of California both spring and fall, after which 
they can no longer be traced. A few occur on the coast of Lower 
California, and the species is a rare straggler to the coast of Chile. 
The principal winter home of the thousands of birds reared each 
season in arctic America remains yet to be determined. 

The red phalarope occurs as a rare straggler in the interior of the 
United States in migration, and has been recorded from Illinois, 
Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Ontario, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Kansas, 
and Wyoming. The first and only record for Colorado is that of a 
single specimen taken by Edward A. Preble, of the Biological Survey, 
July 25, 1895, near Loveland. 

8 f ring migration. — Some early flocks appeared off the coast of 
North Carolina the first week in April, 1896 (Thayer) ; most of the 
migration on the coast of Massachusetts occurs during May, especially 
May 20-30; the first appeared June 2, 1820, on Melville Island, lati- 
tude 74° N. (Parry), and June 3, 1852 (Armstrong), near the same 
locality; on June 18, 1883, the first was seen at Fort Conger, Elles- 
mere Island, latitude 81° 40' N. (Greely); and on June 20, 1876, 
the species appeared 1 degree farther north on the same island 
(Feilden). Even considering the 1st of May as the time of arrival 
on the Massachusetts coast, which is probably too early, there are 
left only fifty days for the 3,000-mile trip from Massachusetts to 
Ellesmere Island, an average rate of migration of 60 miles per day, 
which is exceeded by very few species. In spring migration the red 
phalarope has been noted on the coast of California from April 3 to 
June 3 (Kaeding), and reached Point Barrow, Alaska, June 4, 1882, 
and May 30, 1883 (Murdoch). 

Eggs have been taken in Greenland June 3-28 (Hagerup); near 
Fort Anderson June 27 (MacFarlane) ; and at St. Michael June 8 
(Nelson). 



16 NOETH AMERICAN SHOEEBIEDS. 

Fall migration. — The earliest fall birds are seen on the coast of 
California during Juty (Looniis) ; the larger flocks begin to appear late 
in August and pass south for the next three months. The last seen 
at Point Barrow, in 1882, was on October 10 (Murdoch). The species 
was abundant off the coast of Massachusetts August 4, 1877 (Kum- 
lien) ; and has been noted on Long Island to the third week of 
November (Braislin). 

Northern Phalarope. Lohipes lohatus (Linn.). 
Breeding range. — The northern phalarope breeds in the arctic 
region of both hemispheres, but does not go quite so far north as the 
last species. It ranges from the Chuckchi Peninsula of Siberia east- 
ward across the whole arctic coast of America to the eastern coast of 
Greenland. It breeds north to Upernivik, Greenland, 73° N. (Kum- 
lien); Melville Island, 74° N. (Walker); Point Barrow, Alaska, 71° 
N. (Murdoch); and Wrangel Island, Siberia, 72° N. (Nelson). The 
main breeding ground lies farther south on the mainland of North 
America, especially in northern Mackenzie and western Alaska. It 
breeds south to Ungava Bay, about 59° N. (Turner) ; near Rupert 
House, Ontario (Drexler); to near York Factory, Keewatin, 57° N. 
(Preble) ; Fort Anderson, Mackenzie, 68° 35' N. (MacFarlane) ; Pasto- 
lik, in the delta of the Yukon, Alaska, 63° N. (Dall and Bannister); 
and to Kiska Island, near the west end of the Aleutians, 52° N. (Dall). 
In the Eastern Hemisphere it is an abundant breeder from the hmit 
of tree growth to the Arctic coast, and in eastern Siberia occasionally 
south to latitude 55°. 

Winter range. — The winter home of the great flocks of northern 
phalaropes that breed in arctic America is unknown. The European 
and Siberian birds winter on the coast of Europe and south to Persia, 
India, China, and the Malay Archipelago. For the whole of the 
Atlantic coast of both North and South America there is not a single 
winter record. A soUtary bird was noted at Tumbez, Peru, January 
28 (Taczanowski) ; the species has been recorded from Chorillos, Peru, 
without date (Berlepsch and Stolzmann) ; and there is a specimen 
known from Patagonia (Dabbene). This lack of winter land records 
suggests the possibility that both this species and the red phalarope 
spend the winter in midocean feeding and sleeping on the surface of 
the water. 

Migration range. — The northern phalarope comes south along the 
eastern coast of North America, and is seen commonly as far south 
as Nova Scotia. The flocks seem normally to strike south from 
Nova Scotia into midocean, but occasionally they are driven west- 
ward by storms and appear on the New England coast, sometimes 
by thousands. The birds are not rare south to Long Island, but 
farther south can be considered hardly more than stragglers, though 
recorded to South Carohna (Looniis) . 



NOETHEEN PHALAEOPE. 17 

The northern phalarope is a regular though not common migrant 
throughout the interior of the United States, and has been recorded 
from almost every State north of the Ohio River and south to Kansas 
(Goss) and New Mexico (Henry). There is no record as yet for any 
of the Gulf States. The species is a common migrant on the Pacific 
coast of America, and is sometimes abundant south to the coast of 
central California. Farther south it is less common, though recorded 
from San Jose, Lower California, in the fall (Brewster), and from 
the west coast of Mexico in the spring (Nelson). The few noted at 
Duenas, Guatemala, m August and September (Salvin), and those 
at Desamparados, Costa Rica (Salvin and Godman), complete the 
record for Central America. 

Spring migration. — The northern phalarope was noted in the 
Bermudas March 21-22, 1848 (Hurdis), and March 8, 1852 (Reid). 
This is almost two months earlier than the species usually appears 
on the New England and Long Island coasts. Six years' observa- 
tions at Montauk Point Light gives May 13 as the mean date of spring 
arrival — earhest, April 30, 1898 (Scott). Almost all the dates for 
the coast of Massachusetts are in May. The species arrives at the 
northern limit of its range about the middle of June. Some late 
records on the Atlantic coast are: Near Charleston, S. C, June 3, 
1903 (Wayne); Montauk Point, New York, June 3, 1894 (Scott); 
on the coast of Maine to the middle of June (Job). 

The northern phalarope was common at Sihuatanejo, on the 
western coast of Mexico, April 9, 1903 (Nelson); it usually appears 
on the coast of California in early May, reaches the mouth of the 
Yukon the middle of May, and was noted in the Kowak Valley, 
Alaska, May 22, 1899 (Grinnell); Point Barrow, June 11, 1883 
(Murdoch), and June 15, 1898 (Stone); Walker Bay, Prince Albert 
Land, June 15, 1852 (Greely). Individuals are occasionally seen 
on the California coast in summer, but these are nonbreeders. 

Eggs have been taken near Rupert House, Ontario, June 18, 1860 
(Drexler); near Fort Anderson, June 16, 1862 (MacFarlane) ; at 
Kiska Island, Aleutians, June 30, 1873 (Dall); St. Mchael, Alaska, 
June 1-20 (Nelson); and Kowak Valley, Alaska, June 28, 1898 
(Grinnell). 

Fall migration. — Returning migrants appear on the coast of central 
California less than six weeks after the northbound flocks disappear, 
and are common by the end of July. The great flocks pass during 
August, are less common in September, and cease in October — latest, 
Monterey, October 24, 1896 (Loomis). The average date of fall arrival 
at Montauk Point, New York, is August 28 — earhest, August 5, 1893, 
latest, October 22, 1888 (Scott). The last one noted at Point Barrow 
was seen August 17, 1898 (Stone), and the species usually disappears 
from the mouth of the Yukon the last of September. 
36595°— Bull. 35—12 2 



18 NORTH AMERICAN SHOREBIEDS. 

Records of migration in the interior of Xortli America are not 
numerous. In southwestern Saskatchewan the fall migration opened 
Juh^ 13, 1906, T^-ith the arrival of a large flock, and a few days later 
the birds were abundant. This is only four weeks later than the 
departure of the northbound migrants, which had been seen in the 
vicinity in 1905 from May 29 to June 15, and the follo-^ing year as 
late as June 14 (Bent). A remarkable flight of northern phalaropes 
occurred near Terry, Mont., in 1899; during the last ten days of May 
the birds were exceeding^ abundant (Cameron). 

Wilson Phalarope. Steganopus tricolor Vieill. 

Breeding range. — The northern ^lississippi YaUe}' and the adjacent 
parts of Canada form the principal summer home of the Wilson 
phalarope. It breeds regularly as far east as northwestern Indiana 
(Lake County; Butler) and the islands near Green Bay shore 
(Schoenebeck). Macoun records that a pair nested at Dunnville, 
Ontario, near the northeastern shore of Lake Erie. Thence the 
breeding range extends west through central Iowa (Newton; Preston) 
and northern Colorado (Fort CoUins; Cooke) to central California 
(Lake Tahoe; Bliss; and Las Banos; MaiUiard). Instead of pene- 
tratmg the Arctic regions, as do other phalaropes, this species finds 
the northern limit of its range in northern Manitoba (Lake Winnipeg; 
Thompson), central Saskatchewan (Osier; Colt), central Alberta 
(Edmonton; Macoun), northern Washington (Cheney; Johnson), 
and probably southern British Columbia. 

Winter range. — The few winter records for this species come from 
South America — from central Chile (Philippi) and central Ai'gentina 
(Durnford) south to Patagonia (Durnford) and the Falkland 
Island (Sclater) . There is a single record in f ah migration for western 
Brazil (Pelzeln). and one in May for central Peru (Berlepsch and 
Stolzmann). Three specimens were coUected January 19, 1890, at 
Corpus Christi, Tex. (Sennett), but these were apparently laggards, 
for the species is not usually seen in Texas after September. 

Migration range. — During the fall migration individuals wander 
eastward to the Atlantic coast and have been noted from South Caro- 
lina to Montreal. There is also one May record for Massachusetts 
(Baird, Brewer, and Pidgway) and one June record for Maine (Smith). 
The species seems to be unloiown on the Atlantic coast between South 
Carolina and Argentina. The principal summer home is in western 
North America, and most of the species migrate south through 
Mexico and along both Mexican coasts, and then apparently cross 
directly to the west central coast of South America, since the species 
is unknown in Central America east of Guatemala and in South 
America north of Peru. 

Spring migration. — The Wilson phalarope arrives in central Kansas 
on the average April 27, earhest April 23, 1885 (Kellogg) ; northern 



AVOCET. 19 

Colorado about May 1; Chicago, 111., average May 6; Heron Lake, 
Minn., average May 11, earliest May 8, 1889 (Miller); Hallock, Minn., 
average May 14, earliest May 9, 1896 (Peabody); Reaburn, Manitoba, 
average May 21, earliest May 16, 1898 (Wemyss); Osier, Saskatche- 
wan, May 19, 1893 (Colt). 

The earliest eggs in northern Iowa are deposited about May 20 
(Anderson); eggs nearly hatched have been found in southern Sas- 
katchewan June 7 (Macoun); young just hatching, June 16, at Lake 
Tahoe, California (Bliss), and at the same stage June 22, at Fort 
Klamath, Oregon (Merrill). 

Fall migration. — The Wilson phalarope moves southward so early 
that most have left the breeding grounds soon after the middle of 
August; the last seen at Lanesboro, Minn., in 1885, was on September 
13 (Hvoslef). The species continues passing through Mexico until 
October (Ferrari-Perez). 

Avocet. Recurvirosira americana Gmel. 

Breeding range. — The central western United States is the prin- 
cipal summer home of the avocet, but its breeding range extends 
north to central Wisconsin (Green Bay; Kumlien), southern Mani- 
toba (Souris; Thompson), southern Saskatchewan (Osier; Colt), 
southern Mackenzie (Fort Rae; Ross), and central Oregon (Haines; 
Haines). It breeds south to northern Iowa (Hawarden; Anderson), 
northwestern Texas (Oberholser) , southeastern New Mexico (Carls- 
bad; Bailey), and to Orange County, Calif. (Santa Ana; Grinnell). 
Many years ago this species was not rare on the Atlantic coast, and a 
few are known to have nested at Egg Harbor, N. J. (Giraud). At 
the present time it is a very rare visitor to any part of the Atlantic 
coast, and has scarcely been seen in New Jersey for the last twenty 
years. At various times in the past the avocet has been recorded 
along the coast from Florida (Cory) to southern New Brunswick 
(Chamberlain); one of the latest records is that of three birds seen 
September 13, 1896, at Ipswich Neck, Mass. (Kennard), and a single 
bird taken October 8, 1903, at St. Marys, Ga. (Arnow). The species 
occurs in the interior east of the Mississippi River, as a rare visitor 
from Louisiana (Audubon) to Ontario (Fleming), but is known to 
breed only in Wisconsin. 

Winter range. — The avocet winters abundantly on the coast of 
Texas (Merrill) and in southern California (Newberry); sparingly 
through Chihuahua and Lower California and thence south to Gua- 
temala (Salvin). During migration it has wandered a few times to 
Cuba (Gundlach), Jamaica (Gosse), and twice even to Barbados 
(Feilden). 

Spring migration. — The month of April is the time of most activity 
in spring migration. By the latter part of this month the birds have 
reached South Dakota, and their average date of arrival at Great 



20 NOKTH AMEEICAN SHOEEBIEDS. 

Falls, Mont., is April 24 (Williams). They have even been noted at 
Salt Lake, Utah, as early as March (Baird), and at Ash Meadows, 
Nov., March 15, 1891 (Fisher). They appeared April 28, 1908, at 
Okanagan Landing, B. C. (Brooks), May 14, 1892, at Lidian Head, 
Saskatchewan (]\Iacoun), and June 1, 1864, at Fort Resolution, 
Mackenzie (Preble). 

Eggs have been taken at Santa Ana, Calif., as earlj- as May 3 and 
as late as July 6 (Grinnell) ; eggs nearly ready to hatch were found at 
Hawarden, Iowa, June 2, 1900 (Anderson), and at Crane Lake, 
Saskatchewan, June 9, 1894 (^lacoun). 

Fall migration. — The southward movement begins so early that by 
the last of August the first migrants have reached southern Mexico. 
Individuals have been seen in Nebraska as late as October 27, 1899 
(Wolcott), and at Salt Lake, Utah, until a month later. Other late 
dates are: Cape Elizabeth, Me., November 5, 1878 (Brown); St. 
Mary Reservoir, Ohio, November 10, 1882 (Dawson); Oberlin, Ohio, 
November 4, 1907 (Jones); near New Orleans, La., November 12, 
1889 (Beyer), and Johnsons Bayou, La., November 26, 1882 (speci- 
men in United States National Museum). 

Black-necked Stilt. Himantopus mezicanus (Mlill.), 
Breeding range. — The black-necked stilt is one of the very few 
shorebirds that breed in the L^nited States and also in the Tropics. 
The breeding range extends north to Florida (Scott), Louisiana 
(Beyer), Texas (^lerrill), southern Colorado (Henshaw), northern 
Utah (Allen), and central Oregon (Burns; Preble). More than half 
a century ago the species nested on Egg Island in Delaware Bay 
(TurnbuU) and as late as 1881 still bred on the coast of South Car- 
olina (Wayne) . At the present time the bird is unknown along the 
whole Atlantic coast north of Florida, though formerly it has been 
noted locaUy to northern New England, and in September, 1880, one 
was seen at Mace Bay, New Brunswick (Chamberlain) . In the interior 
of the United States the species is recorded as a straggler north to 
Ohio (Langdon),^Iichigan (Gibbs),Trisconsin (Hoy), Iowa (Rich), and 
Nebraska (Bruner, Wolcott, and Swenk),but is not known to breed east 
of the Rocky Mountains north of Texas. The southern limit of the 
breeding range is not yet weU known. The species is a tolerably com- 
mon resident of the entire West Indies and the whole northern coast 
of South America. It probably breeds south to central Peru and to 
the Lower Amazon. It breeds on the islands off the coast of Yucatan 
(Salvia), and probably on the coast of northeastern Mexico, and 
south to southern New Mexico (Carlsbad; Bailey) and southern Cali- 
fornia (Santa Ana; GrinneU). The early explorers of the West 
recorded it north to the Columbia River, but there are no definite 
breeding^ records so far north. 

Winter range. — A few winter in southern Florida CMyers; Scott) 
and on the coasts of Louisiana (Beyer) and Texas (Corpus Christi; 



WOODCOCK. 21 

Rhoads), and from southern Sinaloa (^lazatlan; Nelson) and south- 
ern Lower California (La Paz; Ridgway), south throughout Central 
America and the West Indies to central Peru (Santa Lucia; Tacza- 
nowski) and the mouth of the Amazon (Sclater and Salvin). The 
species winters on the Galapagos Islands, and possibly a few remain 
to breed (Rothschild and Hartert). 

Spring migration. — The slight northward migratory movements of 
this species occur principally in April. Some dates of arrival are: 
Titusville, Fla., March 11, 1905 (Worthington) ; Sioux City, Iowa, 
April 20, 1902 (Rich) ; Omaha, Nebr., April 20, 1895 (Bruner, Wolcott, 
and Swenk) ; Escondido, Calif., April 13, 1896, April 15, 1897 (Hatch) ; 
Fresno County, Calif., April 5, 1890 (Eaton); Stockton, Calif., April 
13, 1878 (Belding). 

Eggs have been taken in southern California from early May to 
August, and at Salt Lake, Utah, May 22 (Ridgway). At Fort Gar- 
land, Colo., the young were just hatched June 21, 1873 (Henshaw). 

Fall migration. — The latest dates in Nebraska are in early October, 
and the species has been noted at Riverdale, Calif., as late as Novem- 
ber 19, 1891 (Eaton). 

European Woodcock. Scolopax rusticola Linn. 

The European woodcock is widely distributed in Europe and west- 
ern Asia. It breeds in northern Europe and northern Asia from 
beyond the Arctic Circle south to England, Silesia, the Alps, the 
Himalayas, and the mountains of Japan; also on the Azores, Madeira 
and Canary islands. It winters from the British Islands, southern 
Europe and China, to northern Africa, India, and Formosa; it wanders 
occasionally to eastern North America, and has occurred in Loudoun 
County, Va., in 1873 (Coues) ; Chester County, Pa., the end of Novem- 
ber, 1886 (Stone); one was taken near Shrewsbury, N. J., December 
6, 1859 (Lawrence); one, September, 1889, somewhere in New Jersey 
(Warren) ; one, probably of this species, near Newport, R.I. (Baird, 
Brewer, and Ridgway); one at Chambly, Quebec, November 11, 1882 
(Wintle); and one at St. John, Newfoundland, January 9, 1862 

(Sclater). 

Woodcock. Philohela minor (Gmel.). 

Breeding range. — The woodcock breeds locally throughout most of 
its range in the United States, at least south to Jacksonville, Fla. 
(Brewster), the coast of Louisiana (Beyer), and to Neosho Falls, in 
southern Kansas (Goss). It will probably be fpund breeding in some 
of the bottomlands of eastern Oklahoma. The breeding range extends 
northward to Pictou, Nova Scotia (McKinlay) ; Prince Edward Island 
(Dwight); Chatham, New Brunswick (Baxter); the city of Quebec 
(Dionne); Bracebridge, Ontario (Macoun); the northern peninsula 
of Michigan, at Keweenaw Point (Eoieeland); extreme northeastern 
Minnesota, at Elbow Lake (Roberts and Benner) ; and to Winnipeg, 



22 NOETH AMEEICAX SHOEEBIEDS. 

Manitoba (Thompson). The species has wandered north to Xew- 
foundland (Bennett); was noted the end of August, 1S79, at York 
Factory, Keewatui (Bell) ; and early in August, 1892, on Black Eiver, 
Saskatchewan (Tyrrell), at latitude 59° — the most northern and also 
the most western record known. The woodcock has been seen several 
times in Colorado near Denver (Smith), though its regular range 
extends only to eastern South Dakota and eastern Kansas. 

Winter range. — The woodcock remains in the north until driven 
away by frost, and the presence of imfrozen ground is the factor that 
determines the noithem boundaries of its range through the winter. 
The larger part of the species winter in the Gulf States south at least 
to southern Florida (flyers; Scott) and to southern Texas (\Tctoria; 
IVIitchell . but in Texas the species is very rare. Few woodcock winter 
north of latitude 37°, but these few are scattered at favorable local- 
ities over a wide area north to Long Island (Giraud), Grafton, Mass. 
CMackay), and Yincennes. lad. (Balmer). Woodcock have been 
taken several times in December at St. John, Xew Brunswick, but in 
each case they proved to be wounded birds (Gilbert). The species 
has been taken once in the Bermudas, in October, 1842 (Hurdis). 

Spring raigration. — Xot only does the woodcock remaui as far north 
as possible through the winter, but it also pushes northward in spring 
as soon as frost releases its feeding grounds. Average dates of spring 
arrival are: Renovo, Pa., March 22, earliest March 13, 1897 (Pierce); 
Long Island, Xew York, March 15, earliest March 10, 1S9S; central 
Connecticut, average of twelve years March 20, earliest February 24, 
1891; eastern Massachusetts, average of eight years March 16, earli- 
est February 13, 1S90; southwestern Maine, March 29, earhest March 
23, 1905; Hahfax, Xova Scotia, March 25, earhest March 10, 1890 
(Piers); St. John, Xew Brunswick, April 3, earhest March 21, 1898 
(Banks) ; Pictou. X'ova Scotia, April 12, earhest April 6, 1892 (McKin- 
lay) ; city of Quebec, average of thhteen years April 17, earliest April 4, 
1890 (Dionne); Hillsboro, Iowa, March 17, earhest March 15, 1898 
(Savage); TTaterloo, Ind., March 11, earliest March 1, 1906 (Link); 
Oberhn, Ohio, March 21, earliest March 10, 1902 (Jones); Petersburg, 
:Mich., March 17, earhest March 2, 1887 (Trombley) ; Chicago, 111., 
March 26, earhest March 22, 1884 (Wentworth) ; southern Ontario, 
April 2, earhest March 26, 1901; Ottawa, Ontario, May 1, earhest 
Apiil20, 1890 (White). 

One of the most pronounced pecuharities of the woodcock is the 
early date at which it breeds, especiaUy in the GuK States. Young 
a few days old were found January 29, 1890, at Covington, La. (Beyer), 
which requires that the eggs should have been deposited in December. 
Young a week old were noted at Jacksonville, Fla., March 10, 1877 
(Brewster); young at Sourlake, Tex., March 22, 1905 (Gaut); young 



WILSON SNIPE. 23 

a week old at Falls Church, Va., April 18, 1897 (Rile}^; young just 
hatched, Norwich, Conn., April 5, 1888 (Rawson) ; young just hatched, 
Spearville, Ind., April 13, 1894 (Barnett) ; young, Oberlin, Ohio, 
April 19, 1901 (Baird); while eggs have been taken at Caper Island, 
South Carolina, February 13, 1903 (Wayne) ; Raleigh, N. C, March 
9^ 1892 (Brimley) ; Lower Cedar Point, Maryland, February 25, 
1891 (Todd); Fallstown, Md., March 30, 1880 (Kirkwood); Law- 
renceville, N, J., March 14, 1889 (Phillips); Rockland, Me., April 26, 
1886 (Norris); Wheatland, Ind., March 14, 1882 (Ridgway); and at 
Vermilion, S. Dak., April 21, 1884 (Agersborg). 

The average date of the last woodcock seen at Ottawa, Ontario, is 
October 19, latest October 23, 1885 (White); average southern On- 
tario October 21, latest November 6, 1889; usually leave Montreal, 
Canada, about October 20, but were seen in 1880 to December 16 
(Wintle) ; St. John, New Brunswick, average date of the last seen 
November 10, latest November 13, 1888 (Banks); Halifax, Nova 
Scotia, average November 6, latest December 4, 1895 (Piers); south- 
western Maine, average of nine years October 22, latest November 

23, 1900. 

European Snipe. Gallinago gallinago (Linn.). 

The European snipe is an Old World species breeding in Iceland 

and throughout northern Europe and Siberia and south to the Alps, 

southern Russia, and Turkestan. It winters south to northern 

Africa and to China, Formosa, and the Philippines. It has been 

taken twice in the Bermudas — December 24 and 29, 1847 (Reid), 

and three times in Greenland — at Nanortalik, September 6, 1840; 

at Fiskenaes, October, 1845, both on the west coast of Greenland 

(Winge); and the third instance was May 29, 1902, at Angmagsalik, 

on the eastern coast (Helms). A specimen in the British Museum 

is marked as having come from Canada, but nothing is known of its 

history. 

Wilson Snipe. Gallinago delicata (Ord). 

Breeding range. — The northern limit of the breeding range of the 
Wilson snipe extends from Newfoundland (Reeks) and northern 
Ungava (near Fort Chimo; Turner) to northern Mackenzie (Dease 
River; Hanbury) and (Fort Anderson; MacFarlane), northern Yu- 
kon (La Pierre House; Catalogue United States National Museum), 
and northwestern Alaska (Kowak River; Grinnell), apparentl}^ fol- 
lowing closely the limit of trees. Snipe have been noted a few times 
on the west coast of Greenland (Winge), but there is nothing to 
prove that they breed in that country. The species breeds south to 
New Jersey (Trenton; Abbott), northern Indiana (Davis Station; 
Deane), northern Illinois (Waukegon; Nelson), northern Iowa; 
(Union Slough, Kossuth County; Anderson), southern Colorado 
(San Juan County; Drew), northern Nevada (Ridgway), and north- 
ern California (Eagle I^ake; catalogue egg collection. United States 
National Museum). 



24 y : ^ j^ . _ : ^ _ : : ast iSHOKUBaaxg. 

Wmier rttm§e. — Doiiiiu: _ t ^ _i t : — ^-mi some WiIbchl isn^ leaTe 

flie Uniled Stales and pass even to ^ : tJH Sonttli. Ameziea^ or :1- 
r : e to Rio Jandno (Pdadn) and z _ t r =t to Medellin^ C: . i_- 
" '-'-T and Tallin). A few win:-: li. :_r Lesser Antilles i. 

:_ ::. " ::l ■' izn Aa, Caba« and the Bat : m :; : 71 t r? rtaes is cor- : ~ 

LI- In: - : Onat pi nala^ less c<Hnii:i :i_ t : i_ -ZidercrfCezLii.^ 
- . "" tIl: -^ - :^epait<rftlie^eciiK ~_i t:^ ::i :_t 5: _: hpmni United 
S: :: ' ~ji€xe it was fozmeili' enonnoiisiir abondamtw Mo exact 1 
Ijii. iL Tt giv(Hi to the ncHthian ram^ :z — Iz" : The Wilson 
-111 : ~ : t^« wlieze the ground is fe: z : _ 1 - mmnad 

z. : : — L :-: lii!!]!it wcndd extciid firom 1' __ . l -"^Tnfwigfa 

-^-ii: i-^ - — l^riieo and on the Padifi: - Tt : i. : :i_ CaH- 

:-.:z^:u Z li lit 'siqie pass the winter m: ii :i : :_ : :_ : l :f 
r: : ItI- r. : i- . Ttt .::-_ : loot stzeams ori^miZ'.^ ■ A :t~ : li. : t : : i. _. 
L,lzi: t" t"t:" —z.:^; : z ?:~''eClod,Massach]iK.T"-- 7Il:£ " ::il :,;:,:: 
--:t ^tZ : -::::.i ":_;:'- ir^i Ftetwuaiy;, IS ' ;= ::: :i::-L --tI. :^ 
~~:.:'~^_.r _':": ^ ■;:: _ '"- - ymm thf^ : : ; l::- 

i.:r :-':::-T . - —ilttI-ZI i_:::_. i(nt niHthe:" IL::i:;- ; :_ _. z.:::_r:~ 
y^:: n:. Z:ii--: '^:-;::" m . ^^rak), win^r :i: ^r 7. :cfc]rV:-i:L- 
: m. - : : 7 7 : ;. i: : : ^ 7 ; :^ t : i. t : : - — ^ ^ - -- - - ^ ^ 7 7: t : _ - preseiiee 



\ 



£allintj 






^^:i. :_- t::-:-^: jtIMSTT 17^ 
n : = : : ; ::_ : . _ t . .^ " ~ r t i: in Maine-, 

:~ ;tI-":7. I — " 7eisey is Maich 22;^ eazii^' '- - :ii 4^ 1877. ^ :zit 
7 — "si aie: Cailzal Crameer. "--^age Maiiciii 23, 

T : : r ISM; eastern Massadb : — - ~ :'i2!e Apnl 2, 

7 _ _: 1SS7; southwestern Mil n- April 27, 

r :.:: L -^ : 1 ^ "7; Scotch Lake;, Mew 7 : z ~ i^st April 

5, 1907 (17 : 7 (!toa, Mova Scotia, a^ : _ -^ : T^^zfiest 

AttiI 11, IS.^ rjilaj); city of Qpebee^ a¥(exage April 23, 

T — A^ill8,17 7'7 3ne)- 

7 .: liZ'T^vemcm^- ::: '_t T-fi^issqp|pi "Vl7t~ :•:- .'" dosefy ccKie- 

- ~ : : "zri. svt: 1 r t 1 n : : .tttsI liarph 13, 

7 ; T : --:i- L _: ; :. ~ t : :^ t - ^ . ; _ 28, eariliest 

Oucago, SL, a^ : ^T .^prii 3, eailiest 

dider) ; sonthem Mi i_^ ~ :. - ^ r^gie April 3, 

- Tithem Ontario, 5 - . ! ' eariiest 

.: ^,rio,av(H?isie Ai>ril _ _:_- - . __ _ . „ 12, 1902 



WlLSOK SNIPE. 25 

(White); Keokuk, Iowa, average March 23, earhest March 13, 1900 
(Currier); central Iowa, average March 22, earhest March 11, 1897; 
southern Wisconsin, average March 30, earhest March 18, 1894; 
Heron Lake, Minn., average April 5, earliest April 1, 1888 (Miller) ; cen- 
tral South Dakota, average April 11, earliest April 7, 1890; Aweme, 
Manitoba, average April 24, earliest April 18, 1896 (Griddle); central 
Montana, average April 4, earliest March 27, 1894; Rathdrum, 
Idaho, average April 14, earliest April 8, 1899 (Danby); Okanagan 
Landing, British Columbia, April 8, 1907 (Brooks); Bulyea, Alberta, 
April 27, 1904 (Huck); near Fort Providence, Mackenzie, May 2, 
1904, and May 1, 1905 (Jones); Fort Simpson, Mackenzie, May 10, 
1904 (Preble); Nushagak, Alaska, April 25, 1882 (McKay); Fort 
Reliance, Yukon, May 2 (Sharpe); Fort Kenai, Alaska, May 5, 1869 
(Bischoff) ; Nulato, Alaska, May 21, 1868 (DaU) ; Kowak River, Alaska, 
May 22, 1899 (GrinneU). 

In southern Louisiana the average date of departure is April 19, 
latest April 30, 1887; Raleigh, N. C, average April 26, latest 
April 28, 1898 (Brimle}^; central Nebraska, average April 27, latest 
May 18, 1899; Chicago, lU., average May 4, latest May 6, 1904 (Dear- 
born); Oberlin, Ohio, average May 5, latest May 16, 1904 (Jones). 
Some late dates of the last seen are : San Jose, Costa Rica, February 
16, 1890 (Cherrie); Gainesville, Fla., April 15, 1887 (Chapman); 
Lake Elhs, N. C, May 9, 1906 (Brimley); Washington, D. C, May 
4, 1900 (Preble); Bay St. Louis, Miss., May 10, 1902 (Allison); Dal- 
las, Tex., May 1, 1898 (Mayer); Long Pine, Nebr., May 18, 1899 
(Bates). 

Eggs have been taken at Meadville, Pa., May 13, 1875 (Huidekoper) ; 
young about two days old at Trenton, N. J., May 26, 1876 (Abbott); 
eggs at Branchport, N. Y., May 20, 1896 (Stone); hear Waukegan, 
in., April 24, 1896 (Deane); Davis Station, Ind., April 24, 1898 
(Deane); Pewaukee, Wis., May 12, 1871 (Goss); Elk River, Minn., 
May 24, 1884 (Bailey); Minneapolis, Minn., May 14, 1887 (Cantwell); 
American Fork, Utah, April 29 (Johnson); Fort Klamath, Oreg., 
May 20, 1883 (Bendire); Yukon River, Alaska, May 28, 1861; Fort 
Resolution, Mackenzie, May 30, 1864 (Lockhart) ; Shumagin Islands, 
Alaska, June, 1895 (Call). 

Few of the shorebirds suffer so much from spring shooting as the 
Wilson snipe. All winter long in the swamps of the southern States 
it is persecuted by hunters, and as it moves northward it meets a 
fusillade throughout its whole course. In the central parts of the 
South shooting is at its height early in March, and just south of the 
breeding range the bulk of the birds pass early in April. 

Fall migration. — July birds south of the breeding grounds are very 
rare, though they have been noted at Bay St. Louis, Miss., on the 
very early date of July 29, 1901 (Allison). Some dates of arrival 



S6 KOfiTH AMEEICAB- SHOEEBIEDS. 

in tke fall are: Washington, D. C, August 30, 1894 (Eichmond) ; 

Frogmore, S. C, September 16, 1SS5 (Hoxie) : northern Florida, 
average September 26, earliest September 20, 1904 (Williams); 
southern Louisiana, average August 29, earliest August 25, 1901 
(BaUowe): Lincoln, Nebr., August 7, 1900 (Woloott) ; San Bemar- 
dmo Eiver, Sonora, August 1 9, 1S93 (Meams) ; San Jose del Cabo, 
Lower Cahfomia, August 28, 1887 (Brewster) ; San Jose, Costa Rica, 
October 9, 1SS9 (Cherrie:) Bermudas, September 13 (Eeid); Bar- 
bados, West Indies, October 11, 1886 (Planning). The hunter near 
Newport, E. L, secured scarcely a third as manv snipe in the fall as 
in the spring — 466 birds in the eight years; earhest July 30, 1870, 
latest November 14, 1S71. The average dates were August 19 to 
October 27 (Sturtevant) . 

Some dates of the last seen are: Near Jasper House, Alberta, 
September 13, 1896 (Loring) ; Aweme, Manitoba, average October 
11, latest November 7, 1907 (Criddle); Lanesboro, ^linn., October 
31, 1887 (Hvoslef); Keokuk, Iowa, average November 23, latest 
November 28, 1889 (Currier); OberHn, Ohio, latest November 22, 
1890 (Jones) ; Ottawa, Ontario, average November 2, latest Novem- 
ber IS, 1900 (White); Chicago, HL, average October 31, latest 
November 13, 1885 (Holmes); St. John, New Brunswick, November 
5, 1889 (Banks): Halifax, Nova Scotia, average November 23, 
latest December 3, 1894 (Piers) ; southwestern Maine, average Octo- 
ber 21, latest November 8, 1873; Montreal, Canada, average October 
30, latest November 13, 1897 (Wintle). 

Great Snipe. Gallinago media (Latham). 

The great snipe is a species of wide distribution in the Eastern 
Hemisphere. Its breeding range extends from the Scandinavian 
Peninsula to the Yenisei River of Siberia and from Prussia north to 
at least 71° north latitude. The winter home is from the Mediterra- 
nean to South Africa, and during its migration tbe species occurs 
from Great Britain to Persia. 

The only record for the Western Hemisphere is that of a skin pre- 
sented bv the Hudson's Bay Company to the British Museum (Sharpe) . 
There is no reason for doubting that the specimen was taken in 
Canada, but no definite locality can be assigned. 

Dowitcher. MacrorTiamphus griseus (GmeL). 
Breeding range. — ^The nest and eggs of the dowitcher are not yet 
known to science, nor has the species been seen in summer at any 
place where it was probably breeding. The dowitcher is a common 
migrant on the coasts of New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and 
Massachusetts, and ia fall is sometimes very abundant. Farther 
north its numbers decrease: New Hampshire, tolerably common in 
fall, no spring records; Maine, tolerably common spring and faU; 
Quebec, rare migrant; New Brunswick, no records; Nova Scotia, 



DOWITCHEB. 27 

once (Sharpe); Prince Edward Island, once; Ungava, a few in 
August, 1860, at Henley Harbor (Coues), one June 10, 1863, at Fort 
Chimo (Turner). North of Ungava, the only record is that of a 
single accidental occurrence at Fiskenaes, Greenland (Reinhardt). 
Evidently the dowitcher does not breed in any numbers on the 
eastern coast of Ungava. The probability that it does not breed 
there at all is strengthened by the fact that several first class observers, 
who during the fall migration were in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, did 
not see any of the birds. It undoubtedly does not go into north- 
eastern Keewatin and the islands of the Province of Franklin, for it 
is not reported by the various expeditions that have traveled and 
wintered in those districts, while the specimens taken on the west 
coast of Hudson Bay belong to the form called scolopaceus. The 
only district left for the breeding ground is the interior of Ungava 
and the eastern shore of Hudson Bay. 

Winter range. — The dowitcher ranges south in winter through the 
West Indies to the northern coast of South America and to the 
Amazon Biver (Sharpe). It remains at least as far north as northern 
Florida (Worthington) and probably a few as far west on the Gulf 
coast as Louisiana. 

Spring migration. — The first one seen in 1890 at Darien, Ga., was 
on March 20 (Worthington); the average date of arrival on the 
southern coast of South Carolina is March 23, earliest March 17, 
1885 (Hoxie); central North Carolina, average April 30; Pea and 
Bodie Islands, North Carolina, April 27, 1905 (Bishop); Long Beach, 
New Jersey, May 13, 1877 (Scott). 

The species is rare west of the Allegheny Mountains, but a few 
specimens have been reported: Near Chicago, 111., May 6, 1893 
(Woodruff); Toronto, Ontario, not common May 16-31. This last 
locality seems to be about as far west as the dowitcher occurs regu- 
larly, though formerly it probably ranged west to Lake Michigan. 

The species is not uncommon on the coast of Florida throughout 
the summer, but the individuals remaining so far south do not 
assume the breeding plumage (Scott). Migrants are common in 
Florida until the last week in May, and on the coast farther north 
the last leave for the breeding grounds about the first of June (Scott). 

Fall migration. — The first migrants appear on the New England 
coast early in July: Edgartown, Mass., July 4, 1891 (Worth); near 
Newport, B. I., July 7, 1871 (Sturtevant) ; Long Beach, New Jersey, 
July 6, 1877 (Scott); Bone Island, Virginia, July 14, 1880 (Bidgway); 
Erie, Pa., July 19, 1892 (Todd); Pea and Bodie islands. North Caro- 
lina, July 7, 1904 (Bishop); Barbados, West Indies, August 24, 1888 
(Feilden). A market hunter near Newport, R. I., shot 1,058 dowitch- 
ers during 1867-1874 — extreme dates July 7, 1871, and October 20, 
1870. and average date of arrival July 17 (Sturtevant). Some dates 



28 K^OBTS A^rEEICASr SHOEEB1B0S. 

of the last seen are: Henley Harbor^ Ungava, August 21, 1860 
(Coues); Montreal/ Canada^ September 27, 1892 (WiQtle); Toronto, 
Ontario^ September 15, 1889 (Fleming). 

Lon^-biiled Dowitdier. Maam^ampkus griseus seolopaeewt (^y). 

Breeding range. — The long-biUed dowitcher was found as a fairly 
common breeder in the Anderson River i^jon, Mackenzie (Mac- 
F'arlane). and breeds thence west along the Arctic coast to Point 
Barrow, Alaska (Murdoch), though not commonlT. It is an abun- 
dant breeder at the mouth of the Yukon an i : n the shores of Norton 
Sound (Xelson). The species is known from the northern coast of 
eastern Siberia (Palm en), but as yet has not been found there breeding. 

Winter range, — ^The principal winter home seems to be the shores 
of the Gulf of Mexico ; the species is conmion as far east as the Giulf 
coast of Florida (Scott), and a few pass on to Cuba (Lawrence). It 
is common in Mexico and Guatemala, has been recorded as far south 
as Costa Rica (Frantzius), and it is probably this : :rr:i :lat occurs 
in Panama (Lawrence) . 

Some form of the dowitcher occurs on the c: =" :. I^: rr ^ 1- 
yadori and Festa) and in Peru as far south as Tiii^^.^z Ta/zj^iTTilii , 
but whether the eastern or western form has not jet been ascertained. 

Migration range. — ^There is a decided easterly faL :ii:_: riin which 
brings quite a niunber of long-billed dowitchers to the Atlantic coast 
of the L^nited States. They are fairly common from Long Island 
southward, and a few have been taken on the coasts of Rhode Island 
(Howe and Sturtevant) and Massachusetts (Brewer); and one, 
August 12, 1891, at Hamilton, Ontario (Fleming). This is the form 
common in the ^lississippi Valley and it is also more common than 
griseiiSj at least as far east as Ohio. There is one record of its accidental 
occiurence in Japan (specimen in L^nited States National Museum). 

Spring migration. — ^The long-billed dowitcher is only a straggler in 
spring on the Atlantic coast, but has been recorded at Washington. 
D. C in April, 1884 (Smith and Pahner); Cape May, N. J., May. 
1S4S specimen in L'nited States National Museum); while on Long 
Island. New York, a very early iadividual was seen March 20 (Law- 
rence). The species normally reaches northern Indiana and northern 
Illinois late id. April, but one was taken in 1889 at EngMsh Lake, 
Indiana, on the early date of March 11 (Butler). It was enormously 
abimdant along the west shores of Lake ^lichigan in the early days 
of the settlement of the country, but of late years has become quite 
rare. Some dates of arrival farther west are: Fort Brown, Tex., 
March 27, 1853 (Cassin): Corpus Christi, Tex., March 24, 1889 
(Sennett); Lawrence, Kans., April 19, 1S73 (Snow); Omaha, Nebr., 
April 28, 1856 (Cassia); Cheyenne, Wyo., May 3, 1889 (Bond); 
Fort Kenai, Alaska, May I. 1869 (Osgood); St. Michael, Alaska, 
May IS, 1877 (specimen in Sennett collection); Fort Anderson, 



STILT SANDPIPER. 29 

Mackenzie, May 28, 1865 (MacFarlane) ; Point Barrow, Alaska, 
June 19, 1882 (Murdoch). 

Eggs were taken at St. Michael, Alaska, May 23, 1880 (Nelson); 
near Fort Anderson, Mackenzie, June 21, 1864, and June 15, 1865 
(MacFarlane) ; incubating birds were taken at Point Barrow, Alaska, 
June 28, 1883 (Murdoch). 

Fall migration. — Southward-bound migrants were abundant July 
31, 1900, on the west shore of Hudson Bay near Fort Churchill 
(Preble), and this must have been nearly the last of the migration, 
for none were seen after three days later. By this date the earliest 
migrants were already far south, as shown by the following dates of 
arrival: Fort Kenai, Alaska, July 20, 1869 (Osgood); Tulare Lake, 
Calif., July 8, 1907 (Goldman); Hay Creek, Saskatchewan, July 3, 
1906 (Bent); Denver, Colo., July 24, 1873 (Henshaw); Long Island, 
New York, July 23, 1884 (Dutcher); Pea and Bodie islands. North 
Carolina, July 7, 1904 (Bishop); San Mateo, Oaxaca, August 12, 
1869 (specimen in United States National Museum). 

The last were seen at Point Barrow, Alaska, August 17, 1882 
(Murdoch), and August 26, 1897 (Stone); Chilliwack, British Colum- 
bia, October 29, 1888 (Brooks); Hutton Lake, Wyoming, October 14, 
1899 (Knight); Mimbres, Ariz., October 22, 1873 (Henshaw); Souris 
River, North Dakota, October 1, 1873 (Coues); Lincoln, Nebr., 
October 20, 1900 (Wolcott); Long Island, New York, October 15, 
1884 (Lawrence). 

Stilt Sandpiper. Micropalamahimantopus (Bona,p.). 

Breeding range. — Information concerning the nesting of the stilt 
sandpiper is very meager. Several sets of eggs and some young 
birds were taken at Franklin Bay on the Arctic coast of Mackenzie 
and one nest was found at Rendezvous Lake, a few miles back from 
the coast (MacFarlane). A Biological Survey party found young of 
the year (probably migrants) July 19, 1900, near York Factory, 
Keewatin, and noted old birds August 12 near Cape Eskimo (Preble). 
The young were probably hatched somewhere on the Barren Grounds 
north of York Factory. The record from these regions seems to be 
the only data so far obtained bearing on the summer home of the 
species. It is probably safe to say that the breeding range extends 
along the Arctic coast and the adjoining tundras from near the mouth 
of the Mackenzie to the tree limit on the western shores of Hudson 
Bay. 

Winter range. — If the winter home is to be determined solely by 
specimens noted or taken in winter, then it must be said that the 
winter home of the stilt sandpiper is unknown; for there seem to be 
only two records of the species anywhere for the months of November, 
December, and January. One of these is in Mexico (Ferrari-Perez) 
and the other in Texas (Sennett), and probably both were accidental 



30 NOKTH AMERICAN SHOEEBIRDS. 

occurrences. This is one of the rarer sandpipers and the total 
number of individuals is not great. The species is apparently most 
common on the Atlantic coast, while a smaller number occur around 
the Great Lakes and along the eastern edge of the Great Plains in the 
line leading to the coast of southern Texas. The winter home is 
therefore to be sought in a southerly direction from the eastern 
United States. The total records for the whole of Central America 
are only three, one each in Guatemala (Sclater and Sal Yin), Nicaragua 
(Sharpe), and Costa Rica (Zeledon); while the species is recorded as 
a tolerably common migrant in each of the Greater Antilles and in 
six islands of the Lesser, but as more common in the Lesser than the 
Greater Antilles. This latter fact indicates that the principal winter 
home lies along the Atlantic coast of South America, although records 
to substantiate this supposition are lacking. The South American 
records are as follows: Cienega, Colombia, September 13 (Allen); 
Bai'bahoyo (Sclater) and Yinces (Salvadori and Festa), Ecuador, 
each in September; Yquitos, Peru, September and August (Sharpe); 
Choiillos, Peru (Taczanowski) ; Nauta, Peru, September, October, 
March, and April (Sclater and Salvia) ; Falls of the Madeira, Bohvia, 
October (Allen); Hha Grande, Brazil, August (Sharpe), and Matto 
Grosso, Brazil, October (Pelzeln). There remaia the records of 
specimens taken in Chile (Sharpe) and at Colonia, L^ruguay (Sharpe), 
without date of capture. Present knowledge is therefore summed up 
by the statement: It winters in South America, south to Chile and 
Uruguay. One specimen is recorded as taken at Laguna del Rosario, 
Mexico, in January (Ferrari-Perez), and one at Corpus Christi^ Tex., 
January 19, 1890 (Sennett). As already stated, it is not probable 
that the stUt sandpiper ^vinters regularly at either of these locahties. 
One taken February 8, 1892, at Manzanillo, Mexico, by Nelson and 
Goldman of the Biological Survey, may have been an eai'ly spring 
migrant. 

Spring migration. — The species is rare in spring migration along the 
Atlantic coast — indeed, the records are so few that it might be called 
occasional or even accidental. Some of these records are: Jamaica, 
April (March) ; Cuba, April (Gundlach) ; Sulhvan Island, South Caro- 
luia, May 11, 1885 (Sennett); Cape Hatteras, North Carohna, May 19, 
1898 (Pearson); Long Island, New York, once in May (Chapman), 
one Jime 16, 1863 (specimen in United States National Museum) ; 
Rhode Island, May 9, 1895 (Howe and Sturtevant). The principal 
route of spring migration seems to be up the ^lississippi Yalleyand 
particularly along the direct course from the coast of Texas to Great 
Slave Lake. Most of the dates of arrival are in May. Some of the 
more northern are: Indian Head, Saskatchewan, May 18, 1892 
(Macoun); Fort Resolution, Mackenzie, May 19, 1860 (Kennicott); 
Cheyenne, Wyo., May 25, 1889 (Bond); Fort Chipewyan Alberta, 



KNOT. 31 

June 6, 1893 (Russell) ; the last one noted at Indian Head in 1892 was 
June 5 (Macoun). Eggs were taken on Anderson River, Mackenzie, 
June 24, 1863; at Rendezvous Lake, June 27, 1865; and young at 
Franklin Bay, July 8, 1865 (MacFarlane). 

Fall migration. — That fall migration begins as early as possible is 
evidenced by the presence of the species in Peru and Brazil by 
August. It is said to arrive on Grenada and Barbados, West Indies, 
in July, and the earliest records on the Atlantic coast of each of the 
New England States is in the same month— earliest July 6, 1874, 
near Newport, R. I. (Sturtevant). As late as 1879 Doctor Brewer 
stated that it was not yet known to be a regular migrant in this 
region, while a gunner near Newport, R. L, had listed 279 individu- 
als, shot in 1867-1874, the dates ranging from July 6 to September 
19 (Sturtevant), but these records were not published until 1901. 
Along this part of its course the species is most common in August, 
and most have departed by early September. Some late dates are: 
Newfoundland, one September, 1867 (Reeks); St. John, New Bruns- 
wick, September 8, 1881 (Chamberlain); PortLand, Me., October 13, 
1906 (Eastman); Key West, Fla., November 1, 1888 (Scott); Bar- 
bados (Feilden), Grenada (Wells), and in Trinidad (Leotaud), a few 
remain until October. The species has been noted as casual or acci- 
dental in Colorado (Thome), Montana (Coues), British Columbia 
(Brooks), and Bermuda (Hurdis). 

Knot. Tringa canutus Linn. 

Breeding range. — The summer range of the laiot is almost circum- 
polar, extending from Iceland across the whole of Arctic America and 
westward to northwestern Siberia. The species has also been taken 
once in Spitzbergen, but seems in general to be lacking in the Arctic 
regions north of Europe. There is every reason for believing that 
the species breeds locally throughout its summer range, but authentic 
eggs are a great desideratum. Eggs claimed to be positively identi- 
fied have been collected at four localities : Fort Conger, Grinnell Land^ 
June 9, 1883 (Greely); Disko, Greenland, 1875 (Seebohm); Iceland, 
June 17, 1898 (Ottosson); Taimyr Peninsula, Siberia, July 6, 1901 
(Dresser). These eggs differ so much in size, shape, and coloration 
that some of them must have been wrongly identified. One of the 
latent expeditions into the Arctic regions saw young at Goose Fiord, 
latitude 76° 30' N., but found no eggs (Sverdrup). The species was 
found breeding commonly at Igloolik on Melville Peninsula, latitude 
69°, in the summer of 1823 (Parry), but none of the many eggs col- 
lected were preserved. Three years earlier it had been noted as an 
abundant breeder on Melville Island (Sabine). At that time the bird 
was undoubtedly many times more common than now. The Iceland 
record at 66° latitude is the most southern breeding record, and nest- 
lings have been taken on Grinnell Land at 82° 44' latitude. These 
represent the extremes of the breed ^'ng range. 



32 NOETH AMEBIC AN SHOREBIEDS. 

Winter range. — The breeding knots of Siberia go south in winter 
to southern Africa, India, AustraHa, and New Zealand; those from 
Arctic America winter in South America, south to Tierra del Fuego, 
where they were found to be common February, 1895 (Schalow). 
The species is recorded locally from the coasts of South America, but 
present data are not sufficient to define the northern limits of the 
winter range. It is not probable that the knot winters regularly 
anywhere north of South America, and all records to the contrary, 
as the three seen in January, 1890, on Muskeget, Mass. (Mackay), 
must be considered as accidental. On Barbados the species has been 
noted as late as December 27, 1886 (Manning), but it is there con- 
sidered to be only a migrant. 

Migration range. — The principal migration route is along the Atlan- 
tic coast, where the knot is known locally from Florida to Newfound- 
land, and was formerly quite common. There are notable gaps in 
the records of this species. It is known locally as a tolerably com- 
mon migrant throughout the Mississippi Valley east of the ninety- 
eighth meridian, but apparently these Mississippi Valley birds pass 
north and a little east to Hudson Bay and thence to the Arctic 
islands, for the species is unrecorded in the whole interior of Canada 
west of Hudson Bay, and 'has not been found even on the Arctic 
coast of Mackenzie. Southward there is another break in the rec- 
ords, for the specimen taken April 13, 1904, at Rivera, Veracruz 
(Piper), seems to be the first and only record for Mexico, and there 
is none for Central America, though the species is moderately com- 
mon in Texas south to Corpus Christi (Sennett). A few individuals 
of this species have been seen in migration on the Pacific coast from 
San Diego, Calif. (Dwight), to Cape Blossom, Alaska (Grinnell). 

Spring migration. — The knot arrives on the United States coast in 
April, but the larger flocks come about the middle of May, and there 
is no apparent difference in the dates for the whole coast from Florida 
to Massachusetts. An early date is March 28, at Grand Isle, Louisi- 
ana (Beyer, Allison, and Kopman). Near the northern limit of the 
range some dates of arrival are: Point Barrow, latitude 71° 20' N., 
May 30, 1883 (Murdoch); Fort Conger, latitude 81° 40' N., June 3, 
1883 (Greely); Floeberg Beach, latitude 82° 30' N., June 5, 1876 
(Feilden), while far to the southward at Winter Island, latitude 66° 
N., the first was not noted until June 16, 1822 (Parry), and the next 
year at Igloolik, a few miles farther north, not until June 14 (Parry). 

Fall migration. — Birds from the north arrive on the coast of Mas- 
sachusetts, on Long Island, and in some seasons, even on the coast 
of South Carolina (Wayne), by the middle of July; the first was seen 
at the Olympiades, Wash., July 7, 1905 (Dawson). It seems scarcely 
possible that these early arrivals can have bred the same year, for 
earliest dates of young are in July and that at places 2,000 miles or 



PURPLE SANDPIPER. 33 

more to the northward. August is the month of principal migra- 
tion from Maine to South America, and this month also witnesses 
the departure from the breeding grounds. The last one seen at 
Floeberg Beach was August 29, 1875 (Feilden) ; Point Barrow, August 
17, 1898 (Stone); Homer, Alaska, August 23, 1901; Winter Island, 
Melville Peninsula, August 17, 1822 (Greely). During the summer 
of 1822 the entire stay of the knot on Winter Island was only sixty- 
two days — one of the shortest nesting periods of any species. 

Purple Sandpiper. Arquatella maritima (Briinn.). 

Breeding range. — The purple sandpiper is principally a bird of the 
Old World, breeding on the Arctic coast and islands from north- 
western Siberia to Iceland. In Greenland it is known on the east 
coast to Shannon Island, latitude 75° N. (Schalow); and on the 
west to Thank God Harbor, 81° 40' N. (Bessels); and probably it 
breeds at least as far north as latitude 72°. A few were seen at Fort 
Conger, on Grinnell Land (Greely) ; several at various times in the 
fall around Wellington Channel (McCormick); and the species was 
found common in summer on Banks (Armstrong) and Melville (Ross) 
islands. The Banks Island record at latitude 74° N., longitude 
118° Vf., marks the extreme northwestern range of the species. To 
the westward of this it is replaced by couesi. The southern limit of 
the breeding range appears to extend from the southern end of 
Greenland to the base of the Melville Peninsula, and possibly to the 
northern shores of Hudson Bay. The species breeds most commonly 
on the shores of Baffin Bay and Davis Strait. 

Winter range. — The purple sandpiper remains the farthest north 
in winter of any of the shorebirds. It is said to winter sometimes 
even in southern Greenland (Hagerup), and it is common in winter 
from Nova Scotia (Sharpe) and New Brunswick (Macoun) southward 
to the coast of Rhode Island (Howe and Sturtevant). It is a rare 
but regular winter visitant to Long Island, New York (Dutcher), and 
has occurred casually thence south to the Bermudas (Reid), Georgia 
(Sennett), and Florida (Scott). The species is rare anywhere away 
from the ocean, but has been noted a few times in the vicinity of the 
Great Lakes. 

Spring migration. — Some dates of spring arrival are : Winter Island, 
June 10, 1822 (Greely); Igloolik, June 14, 1823 (Greely); Cam- 
bridge Bay, June 10, 1853 (Greely); Bay of Mercy, June 3, 1852 
(Armstrong); Cumberland Sound, June 4, 1878 (KumUen); Prince 
of Wales Sound, Ungava, May 27, 1886 (Payne); west coast of 
Greenland at latitude 72° N., May 29, 1850 (Sutherland). The last 
usually desert the New England coast in March. 

Fall migration. — Occasionally a stray bird appears in September 
on the New England coast, but the main flocks do not arrive until 
36595°— Bull. 35—12 3 



34 XOETH A^IEEICAN SHOEEBIKDS. 

Xoveniber or December. The species is not late in deserting the far 
Xorth. as evidenced by the foUowing dates of the last ones seen: 
Thank God Harbor. Greenland. September 11. 1S71 (Bessels); 
Possession Bav. Frankli n . September 1. 1818 (Sabine); Wellington 
Channel. August 2S. 1S52 (McCormick). At Cumberland Sound a few 
remained in IS 77 until November ^Kumhen). 

Aleutian Sandpiper. Arq-uau'.'/i : yritima couesi Tddgw . 

The western coast of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands seem to be 
the principal home of the Aleutian sandpiper. It breeds thi^oughout 
the whole of the Aleutian Chain, east to the Shumagin Islands (DaU) ; 
and also to the westward on the Commander Islands of Asia (Stej- 
neger'. It printers on the .Aleutians and south along the mainland 
of Alaska to Sitka t.Bischoff). A few of the breeding biixls of the 
Commander Islands remain throughout the winter, but most of them 
go south as far as the Kurhe Islands (Sharpe). 

Early in August, when the young are strong of wing, great flocks 
move north and appear on the west coast of the mainland of Alaska, 
at least as far north as Kotzebue Sound (Xelson); they occur also 
inland to Xulato (DaU\ and on the Asiatic side at least to Plover Bay 
(Dalli. This northward migration takes them also to the Pribilof 
Islands ('Seale). They remam in this northern part of the range until 
driven south by the gathering ice; the last leave Norton Sound about 
the middle of October (Xelson). The earhest records of eggs taken 
on Beiing Island are about the middle of May (Stejneger), and on 
Unalaska Island the first week in June (Reed). 

Pribilof Sandpiper. Arquatella maritima ptiloaiemis (Coues). 

The name Pribilof sandpiper indicates the principal breeding place, 
but in addition, the species has been found breeding on the islands 
of St. Lawrence (Xelson), St. Matthew (Elliott), and HaU (Grinnell). 
It has been taken from July 17 to August 29 on the shores of Norton 
Soimd (^IcGregorK but there is nothing to indicate that it breeds in 
the vicinity, and its occurrence there is probably due to a northward 
migration after the breeding season. The main winter home has not 
yet been ascertained, and the only winter records to date are those 
of a few seen in December and January at Portage Bay, near the base 
of the Alaska Peninsula (Hartlaub'. In spring migration the Pribilof 
sandpiper has been taken April 1-14 at Xushagak, Alaska (Palmer), 
and in fall migration August 5-14 near Unalaska Island (McGregor). 
Eggs have been found on the Pribilof Islands fi^om June 19 to July 6 
(Prentiss). 

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper. Pisohia aurita (Latliam). 

The breeding range of the sharp-tailed sandpiper is not well known. 
The bird occin^s in summer on the north shore of Siberia at Cape 
Waukarem (Xeison) and the Chuckchi Peninsula (Palmen), and this 



PECTORAL SANDPIPER. 35 

is probably the principal breeding range. The species winters in 
Australia and New Zealand and migrates through the Commander 
Islands, Japan, China, and the Malay Archipelago. 

All the records for North America seem to be during the fall migra- 
tion, at which period — crossing to America on the way to its winter 
home in Asia — it is fairly common in Alaska on the shores of Norton 
Sound, and has been noted north to Port Clarence and Hotham Inlet 
(Nelson) . It has been taken a few times on the Pribilof Islands, once 
on Unalaska Island (Bishop), once on Queen Charlotte Islands 
(Fannin), and once on Vancouver Island (Brooks). The period of 
occurrence on the coast of America extends from August 17, when 
the first was seen on the Pribilof Islands (Grinnell), to October 12, the 
date of the last seen in Norton Sound (Nelson) . The two individuals 
taken December 27, 1897, on Queen Charlotte Islands (Fannin), 
were probably stragglers. 

Pectoral Sandpiper. Pisohia maculata (Vieill.). 
Breeding range. — The principal known summer home of the pectoral 
sandpiper is the coast of northwestern Alaska, from the mouth of the 
Yukon (Nelson) to Point Barrow (Murdoch) . The principal authority 
on the birds of the Arctic coast east of the Mackenzie is MacFarlane, 
and he reports that the pectoral sandpiper was rare in the vicinity of 
Fort Anderson and Franklin Bay, and that he was never able to find 
the nest. This must have been a local peculiarity of distribution, for 
Edward A. Preble, of the Biological Survey, found the species abun- 
dant in August, 1900, on the barren grounds of the western shore of 
Hudson Bay; the species is also a common fall migrant on the coast of 
Ungava (Coues). Undoubtedly all these birds of Keewatin and 
Ungava nest along the neighboring Arctic coast, where, indeed, the 
eggs have been taken at Cambridge Bay, Franklin (Collinson) . 

Winter range. — In winter the species passes to southern South 
America, at least as far south as Port Desire, Argentina, latitude 
40° 30' S. (Sharpe), and to Antofagasta, Chile, 23° 30' S. (Philippi). 
It winters in northern Argentina (Durnford) and as far north as 
Bolivia (Salvadori) and Peru (Sharpe) . Though confined in summer 
to the seacoast, yet in its migrations it has been noted in Colorado 
at 13,000 feet (Morrison), and in its South American winter home it 
is not uncommon in the mountains to 12,000 feet (Sclater). 

Migration range. — The pectoral sandpiper has a very pronounced 
southeastward migration in the fall. How far west thfe range extends 
in the Arctics is not yet known, but the bird has been found in late 
July and August along the northern coast of Siberia as far west as the 
Taimyr Peninsula (Palmen), and it may sometimes be found on this 
coast as a breeder. From these far western localities, it starts east 
and south along the Alaska coast, and a few visit the Pribilof Islands 
(specimen in United States National Museum) and the eastern 



36 NOETH AMERICAN SHOREBIEDS. 

Aleutians (Bishop), but the species is nowhere common on the Pacific 
coast south of Alaska, showing that most of the Alaskan and Siberian 
birds cross the Rocky Mountains and migrate southeastward to the 
winter home. Still some pass south along the Pacific coast to Wash- 
ington (Bowles); ^lill Valley Junction, Calif., September 14, 1896 
(MaiUiard); Farallon Islands, September 4, 1884 (specimen in United 
States National Museum) ; several at Santa Barbara, Cahf., September 
8-20 (Bowles) ; and the species is fairly common during fall migra- 
tion in the Cape Region of Lower California (Brewster). 

The species is well known as a migrant on the west coast of Green- 
land as far north as Upernivik, latitude 73° (Winge). It is a common 
migrant throughout the whole of North America east of the Rocky 
Mountains, and of the West Indies and Central America. It is 
strangely rare in the northern part of South America, where it seems 
to be unrecorded in Venezuela and Guiana, and to have been recorded 
only once from Colombia (Allen). It is common in migration in 
Ecuador and Brazil. 

Spnng migration. — The start from the South American mnter home 
must be very early — February, or more likely January — for the aver- 
age date of arrival at Raleigh, N. C, is March 23; earhest March 21, 
1889 (Brimley) . Raleigh is full 2,000 miles from the nearest boundary 
of the winter range, and probably these birds had already traveled over 
3,000 miles when they appeared at Raleigh. Some other spring 
dates are: Beaver, Pa., average April 4, earliest April 1, 1890 (Todd); 
Erie, Pa., March 23, 1895 (Todd); New Orleans, La., March 7, 1896 
(Allison); Hidalgo, Tex., March 16, 1890 (Sennett); St. Louis, Mo., 
March 17, 1884 (Widmann); Chicago, 111., average of seven years, 
March 31, earliest March 27, 1897 (Blackwelder) ; Terre Haute, Ind., 
average March 26, earliest March 17, 1887 (Evermann); Ottawa, 
Ontario, average April 30, earliest April 27, 1894 (White) ; Keokuk, 
Iowa, average April 1, earliest March 17, 1893 (Currier); Fort Reso- 
lution, Mackenzie, May 19, 1860 (Kennicott) ; Fort Providence, 
Mackenzie, May 14, 1905 (specimens in collection Biological Survey); 
Fort Simpson, Mackenzie, May 16, 1904 (Preble); Dawson, Yukon, 
May 19, 1899 (Cantwell) ; St. Michael, Alaska, May 24, 1879 (Nelson) ; 
Kowak River, Alaska, May 27, 1899 (Grinnell); Point Barrow, 
Alaska, May 30, 1883 (Murdoch), and May 30, 1898 (Stone). Eggs 
were secured at Cape Lisburne, Alaska, June 5, 1885 (Woolfe), and at 
Point Barrow,^une 20-July 10, 1883 (Murdoch). 

Fall migration. — In common with many other shorebirds, the 
pectoral sandpiper begins its fall migrations in July; indeed, it is 
probable that some start southward in June, for the average date 
of arrival on the coast of Mississippi is July 19, earliest July 15, 
1903 (Alhson); and at New Orleans, La., earliest July 17, 1895 
(Blakemore). These birds were already more than 2,000 miles 



WHITE-EUMPED SANDPIPER. 37 

south of their breeding grounds, and had probably traveled all of^ 
this distance, for the pectoral sandpiper is not one of the species 
whose nonbreeders remain through the summer far south of the 
nesting grounds. If the fall migration was made at the same speed 
as the spring migration, about 35 miles per day, these July Gulf 
coast birds would have had to start on the return trip the middle of 
May, or earlier than they reach their breeding grounds. The records 
of this species combined with those of many others seem to indicate 
that the earliest fall migrants travel at a higher speed than the 
earliest spring migrants. This high speed in the case of the pectoral 
sandpiper is continued to South America and brings the first to 
Argentina by the end of August (Sclater and Hudson) . 

The regular fall migration of the young birds is a full month later, 
and they reach the coast of Ungava after the middle of August 
(Coues). Some late dates are: Northern coast of Siberia, August 20 
(Pelzeln); Point Barrow, September 6, 1882 (Murdoch); St. Michael, 
September 6, 1899 (Osgood); Unalaska Island, October 5, 1899 
(Bishop) ; Nushagak, Alaska, October 15, 1884 (Osgood) ; southern 
British Columbia, average October 16, latest October 25, 1905 
(Brooks); Terry, Mont., October 21, 1905 (Cameron); Great Bear 
Lake, August 29, 1903 (Preble); Montreal, average October 25, latest 
November 1, 1890 (Wintle) ; Ottawa, Ontario, average October 29, 
latest November 5, 1895 (White); Lincoln, Nebr., November 4, 1899 
(Wolcott); Keokuk, Iowa, November 24, 1900 (Currier); Carlisle, 
Pa., November 2, 1844 (Baird) ; Ealeigh, N. C, November 15, 1894 
(Brimley). A gunner near Newport, R. L, who shot 2,337 birds in 
1867-1874, killed most of them between August 10 and October 10 — 
extreme dates July 16, 1870, and October 20, 1874 (Sturtevant) . 

White-rumped Sandpiper. Pisohia fuscicollis (Vieill.). 
Breeding range. — The nests and eggs of the wliite-rumped sandpiper 
have been reported from Herschell Island, Yukon (Proctor), Franklin 
Bay, Mackenzie, and the neighboring Barren Grounds (MacFar- 
lane). The species was seen near Cumberland Sound July, 1878 
(Kumlien), under such conditions as to make it probable that it 
was breeding, and is recorded as breeding at Cape Fullerton, Hudson 
Bay (Low) . Many specimens have been taken on the west coast of 
Greenland from near the southern end north to Upernivik, latitude 
73° (Winge), but there is no proof that any of these were breeding. 
At Point Barrow, Alaska, the species was noted June 6-July 6, 1883 
(Murdoch), and June 2-14, 1898 (Stone), but again there is no cer- 
tainty of breeding. None of the expeditions that lived and collected 
on Boothia Peninsula and Melville Peninsula mention this species, 
and it is not known to breed south of Hudson Strait. It is evident, 
therefore, that the thousands of individuals of this species are crowded 
during the breeding season into a rather narrow belt of tundra 



38 NOETH AMERICAN SHOEEBIEDS. 

extending from near the mouth of the Mackenzie east to the southern 
end of Baffin Land. 

Winter range. — Few species of shorebirds have so many records 
for Patagonia as the white-rumped, and this is also one of the species 
that is erroneously said to breed in the Southern Hemisphere. It 
winters abundantly from Paraguay and Argentina to the Falkland 
Islands (Sclater and Salvin) and the southern coast of Tierra del 
Fuego (Schalow). It is rare or casual on the coast of Chile (Gay) 
and unknown on the rest of the western coast of South America, 
except one seen at Chorillos, Peru (Taczanowski) , and one taken 
October 12, 1864, near Huanaracama, Peru (specimen in United 
States National Museum) . 

Migration range. — During migration the white-rumped sandpiper 
is common along the whole eastern coast of South America, in the 
West Indies, and in the United States east of the Eocky Mountains. 
The western edge of the migration route extends from the upper 
Mackenzie through western Saskatchewan and eastern Colorado to 
the coast of southern Texas and then turns east to northern Yucatan 
and the island of Trinidad. The species is only an accidental visi- 
tant to Mexico (Salvin), Central America, and the whole of north- 
western South America. Accidental once in California (Bryant) 
and several times in Europe. 

Spring migration. — The species arrives in Cuba in April (Gundlach) 
and has been recorded in northern Yucatan April 15 (Salvin). Nearly 
all the dates of arrival in the United States are in May, from Florida 
to Maine and from Massachusetts to Colorado. The first was seen at 
Indian Head, Saskatchew^an, May 9, 1892 (Macoun); Fort Chipew- 
yan, Alberta, May 30, 1893 (Russell); Fort Resolution, Mackenzie, 
May 19, 1860 (Kennicott) ; Cape Fullerton, Hudson Bay, May 22, 1904 
(Eif rig) . There are indications that the larger number pass north in 
spring by w^ay of the Mississippi Valley and return in fall along the 
Atlantic coast; but some individuals are found on the Atlantic coast 
in spring, though rare north of Virginia, and a few occur in the eastern 
Mississippi Valley in fall. The most surprising feature of this bird's 
migration is its late stay in spring south of its breeding grounds. 
Near Cape Horn, South America, it was abundant the winter of 
1882-83 and remained until March 7, 1883 (Oustalet).- It remains in 
southeastern Argentina until late April (Holland), and a single speci- 
men was taken at Colonia, Uruguay, in June (Sharpe). The species 
remains regularly in Brazil until May (Pelzeln); one was taken on 
Inagua. Bahamas, May 27, 1879 (Cory); Ameha Island, Florida, 
May 30, 1906 (Worthington) ; Erie, Pa., June 4, 1875 (Sennett); 
Stafford County, Kans., June 6, 1907 (Peabody); Waukegan, 111., 
June 9, 1876 (Nelson); Toronto, Ontario, June 21, 1898 (Nash); and 
at Indian Head, Saskatchewan, the last did not leave for the north 
until July 1, 1892 (Macoun). 



BAIED SANDPIPER. 39 

Fall migration. — By early July the species is already moving south 
and arrived soon after July 1, 1886, at Prince of Wales Sound, Ungava 
(Payne), just south of the breeding grounds. During the month of 
July the van appears all along the New England coast, and even 
reaches Barbados (Feilden). August finds the species in Brazil 
(Pelzeln), and the collectors near Cape Horn in 1882 recorded the 
arrival of the first September 9 (Oustalet). 

The main part reaches the northern United States in August, usu- 
ally about the second week; the last leave the breeding grounds soon 
after the 1st of September, and the birds are seldom seen on the New 
England coast after the middle of October. One was taken at Ossin- 
ing, N. Y., October 21, 1879 (Fisher), and a late migrant was taken 
at Lake Drummond, Virginia, November 5, 1898 (Fisher). 

Baird Sandpiper. Pisohia hairdi (Coues), 
Breeding range. — The Baird sandpiper has been found breeding at 
Point Barrow, Alaska (Murdoch), in the vicinity of Franklin Bay, 
Mackenzie (MacFarlane), and at Cambridge Bay, Franklin (Collinson). 
These localities probably represent the real extremes of the breeding 
range, for east or west of these limits the species is known very 
rarely even in migration. 

Winter range. — During migration the Baird sandpiper has been 
noted near the summit of one of the highest mountains of Colorado at 
14,000 feet (Drew). The same tendency to seek a high altitude is 
shown in the winter home, for this species has been taken repeatedly 
in the high mountains of northern Chile at 10,000 to 12,000 feet, and 
one specimen was secured at over 13,000 feet altitude (Sclater). 
Chile seems to be the principal winter home of the species, and it has 
been recorded here south to Talcahuano, latitude 36° 30' S. (Sharpe). 
It is said to have occurred in Patagonia (Carbajal), but no definite 
locality is given, and in Argentina it seems not to have been recorded 
south of Buenos Aires (Sclater and Hudson). 

Migration range. — The route the Baird sandpiper traverses between 
its winter and summer homes is yet to be determined. In spring 
migration the species is practically unknown east of the Mississippi 
River, and is abundant on the coast of Texas, on the plains, and in 
the Rocky Mountain region. Though many individuals occur in the 
eastern United States in fall, yet the bulk retraces its spring course 
and leaves the United States to the southward of the plains region. 
It has been noted in a few places in Mexico in fall: Colonia Garcia, 
Chihuahua, September 4; Chihuahua City, October 3 (Nelson); San 
Jose del Cabo, September 3-13 (Brewster); Janos River, Chihuahua, 
September 5 (Wolfe); Las Vigas, Jalapa, September (Sharpe); and 
Zacatecas, August 16 (Sharpe); here the record ends. The species is 
not recorded for Guatemala, Honduras, or Nicaragua. It is a common 
fall migrant in Ecuador (Salvadori and Festa), but the only records 



40 NOETH AMEBIC AN SHOREBIBDS. 

between Mexico and Ecuador are: Volcano Irazu, Costa Rica, June 8 
(Cherrie); La Estrelle de Cartago, Costa Eica, November 5, 1907 
(Carriker) ; and Medellin, Colombia (Sclater and Salvin) , without date 
of observation. 

Not many years ago the Baird sandpiper was considered merely 
accidental on the Atlantic coast. The past few years have witnessed 
a great increase of data. It is now known to be a regular and not 
rare migrant east to Lake Huron (Wood), Lake Erie (Todd), and the 
western end of Lake Ontario (Nash), and there are 50 or more printed 
records for the Atlantic coast region, from Four Mile Run, Ya. 
CNIatthews), north to Digby, Nova Scotia (Macoun). TVhat becomes 
of these Atlantic coast birds is not yet known, for the species seems to 
be unrecorded. in the United States south of the Ohio River and east 
of ^lississippi, and is not known in the West Indies. It ranges regu- 
larly west to British Columbia (Brooks), but to the southward the 
flocks seem to pass inland west of the Sierra and are common in 
Nevada (Ridgway) and Arizona (Henshaw), but rare in California, 
where it has been taken at Point Pinos (Mailhard) and September 8, 
1904, at Pacific Beach (Bishop). 

Spring migration. — The Baird sandpiper is a much earlier migrant 
than its eastern relative, the white-rumped. It appears on the coast 
of Texas in early March (Brown) ; the average date of arrival in central 
Nebraska is March 24, earliest March 19, 1890 (Powell); Loveland, 
Colo., March 29, 1890 (Smith); southern British Columbia, April 29, 
1889, and 1905 (Brooks); Indian Head, Saskatchewan, May 9, 1892 
(Macoun); Fort Resolution, Mackenzie, May 19, 1860 (Kennicott); 
near Dyer, Alaska, May 15, 1882 (Hartlaub); Kowak River, Alaska, 
May 20, 1899 (Grinnell) ; Point Barrow, Alaska, average of three years 
May 29, earhest May 28, 1898 (Stone). The date of arrival at Point 
Barrow is worthy of notice, for at this time the birds' breeding grounds 
on the tundra were covered deep with snow, and it had to wait some 
weeks before it could begin nesting. The earhest eggs at Fort 
Anderson were found June 24, 1864 (MacFarlane) ; the next year, 
young were noted July 5, and downy young were taken at Point 
Barrow July 16, 1898 (Stone). 

The species remains in Chile until the last of March (Lane), and is 
common in Texas to the middle of May (Lloyd). A late migrant was 
taken June 1, 1903, at Iguala, Guerrero (Nelson and Goldman). The 
last usually leave Nebraska before the first of June, but in 1900 one 
was seen at Lincoln on June 29 (Wolcott). The last was noted at 
Indian Head, Saskatchewan, June 2, 1892 (Macoun), and at Fort 
Chipewyan, Alberta, June 1, 1893 (RusseU). 

Fall migration. — Several flocks already in fall migration were seen 
at Great Slave Lake, Mackenzie, July 10, 1901 (Preble). Since the 
earhest young are not hatched until the first week in July, it is evident 



LEAST SANDPIPEE. 41 

that these flocks of July 10, already several hundred miles south of 
the breeding grounds, must consist either of barren birds or of those 
that had suffered loss of their eggs. In southern British Columbia, 
the average date of arrival is August 11, earliest August 6, 1888 
(Brooks) ; near Monterey, Calif., August 25, 1897 (Mailliard) ; southern 
Saskatchewan, July 17, 1906 (Bishop); southern Manitoba, July 23, 
1881 (Macoun); Lincoln, Nebr., August 9, 1900 (Wolcott); southern 
Ontario, July 28, 1891 (Nash); Locust Grove, N. Y., August 18, 1885 
(Henshaw); Boston Harbor, August 27, 1870 (Henshaw) ; Montauk, 
N. Y., August 14, 1907 (Braislin). In September it reaches its 
winter home in southern South America. 

The last were seen at Point Barrow, Alaska, August 12, 1883 (Mur- 
doch), and September 4, 1897 (Stone); southern British Columbia, 
September 15, 1903 (Brooks); Fort Lyon, Colo., September 28, 1885 
(Thorne); Lincoln, Nebr., November 3, 1900 (Wolcott); southern 
Ontario, October 20, 1893 (Elliott); New Haven, Conn., October 28, 
1887 (Woodruff ); Galapagos Islands, October 6, 1897 (Rothschild and 

Hartert) . 

Least Sandpiper. Pisohia minutilla (Vieill.). 

Breeding range. — The least sandpiper nests in the far north to 
northern Ungava (Turner); at Cambridge Bay in southern Franklin 
(Collinson); the coast of Mackenzie (MacFarlane) ; and Kotzebue 
Sound, Alaska (Grinnell). Unlike most of the Arctic breeding shore- 
birds, it breeds also quite far south to Sable Island (Gates) ; Magdalen 
Islands (Job) ; northeastern Quebec (Audubon) ; upper Hamilton 
River, Ungava (Low) ; Fort Churchill, Keewatin (Preble) ; Lake 
Marsh, southern Yukon (Bishop); and in Alaska south to Yakutat 
Bay (Merriam). The western limit of the breeding range in Alaska 
is not yet definitely settled. 

Winter range. — The species is recorded without exact locality from 
Chile (Salvin), has been taken at several places in Peru (Tacza- 
nowski), and ranges south in Brazil to Pernambuco (Allen). Thence 
it is known throughout northern South America, Central America, 
Mexico, and the West Indies, the coast of Georgia (Helme), rarely in 
winter to North Carolina (Bishop), southern Texas (Merrill), southern 
Arizona (specimen in United States National Museum), and southern 
California, north at least to Owen Lake (Fisher) and Humboldt Bay 
(Townsend). 

Migration range. — Beyond the known breeding range, the least 
sandpiper is found in fall on the west coast of Greenland north to God- 
haven, latitude 69° (Walker); at Plover Bay, Siberia (Bean). It 
occurs during most if not all the summer on the Alaska Peninsula 
(Osgood) and on the Aleutian Islands west to Unalaska (specimen 
in United States National Museum). 

Spring migration. — Though wintering so far north, this species is 
one of the later shorebirds to migrate. Most of the migrants cross 



42 ITOETH AMERICAN SHOEEBIEDS. 

the United States in earlv Mav, as shown bv the followinof dates of 
arrival: Long Island, New York, average May 4, earUest April 21, 
1906 (Latham); eastern Massachusetts, average May 8; city of 
Quebec, average May 2, earhest April 28, 1900 (Dionne); Chicago, 
HI., average May 8, earliest May 4, 1898 (Gault); Oberlin, Ohio, aver- 
age May 12, earliest May 8, 1905 (Jones'!: southern Ontario, average 
May 15, earliest May 8, 1889 (Mcllwraith) ; Ottawa, Ontario, average 
May 18, earliest May 10, 1888 (Wliite); Onaga, Kans., average May 11, 
earliest May 9, 1904 (Crevecoeur) ; southern Saskatchewan, average 
May 17, earhest May 12, 1903 (Harvey); Fort Resolution, May 19, 
1860 (Kennicott) : Fort Providence, May 15, 1905 CMills); Fort Simp- 
son, May 17, 1904 (Preble) ; Loveland, Colo., average April 21, earliest 
April 19, 1890 (Smith); Cheyenne, Wyo., average April 28, earliest 
April 23 1888 (Bond) ; Newport, Oreg., average April 29, earhest April 
21, 1901 (Bretherton) : southern British Columbia, average April 22, 
earhest April 20, 1905 (Brooks) ; Nulato, Alaska, May 11, 1867 (Dall) ; 
Kowak River, Alaska, May 15, 1899 (Grinnell). 

Eggs were taken near Fort Anderson, Mackenzie, June 21, 1862; 
June 24, 1863, and June 30, 1864 (MacFarlane) : Yakutat Bay, 
Alaska, June 21, 1899 (Merriam); downy young at Lake Marsh, 
Yukon, July 2, 1899 (Bishop), and an egg ready to lay at the Kowak 
River, Alaska, June 1, 1899 (Grinnell). 

Fall migration. — The foUowing dates of arrival show how very 
early some individuals of the species must start southward: Sitka, 
Alaska, common July 2, 1896 (Grinnell); southern British Columbia, 
July 2, 1889 (Brooks); North Dalles, Wash., July 4, 1897 (Fisher); 
near San Diego, Calif., July 13, 1894 (Meams); Fort Bridger, Wyo., 
July 13, 1858 (Drexler); Lincoln, Nebr., July 14, 1900 (Wolcott); 
Detroit, Mich., July 9, 1905 (Swales), July 7, 1906 (Taverner); near 
Toronto, Ontario, July 4, 1891 (Nash); Lexington, Ky., July 16, 
1905 (Dean); Long Island, New York, average July 8, earliest July 
6, 1898 (Worthington) ; Bahamas, July 16, 1903 (Riley), July 18, 
1904 (AUen); the Lesser Antilles, the middle of July (Feilden); off 
the coast of Venezuela, July 23, 1892 (Hartert). 

Some dates of the last seen are: Cape Blossom, Alaska, August 10, 
1898 (Grinnell); southern British Columbia, average September 11, 
latest September 18, 1903 (Brooks); Aweme, Manitoba, average Sep- 
tember 4. latest September 26, 1899 (Criddle) ; Long Island, New York, 
September 17, 1905 (Latham); Erie, Pa., October 3, 1895 (Todd); 
Back River, Maryland, November 3, 1894 (Kirkwood). 

Long-toed Stint. Pisohia damacensis (Horsf.). 

The long-toed stint is a species of eastern Asia, accidental in 

North America. It breeds in eastern Siberia, Kamchatka, Bering 

Island, and south to the Kurile Islands; west probably to the vaUey 

of the Lena River. This statement of breeding: ransre is based on 



RED-BACKED SANDPIPER. 43 

the occurrence of the species in summer, since the nest and eggs are 
still unknown. The species passes south for the winter, through 
China and Japan, to Australia, the Malay Archipelago, Burma, and 
India. The only record in North America is of a single specimen 
taken June 8, 1885, on Otter Island, Alaska (Ridgway). 

[Cooper Sandpiper. Pisohia cooperi (Baird). 

The Cooper sandpiper is known only from the single specimen now in the National 

Museum, taken in May, 1833, on Long Island. The status of the species is still in 

doubt.] 

Dunlin. Pelidna alpina (Linn.). 

The dunlin, an Old World species, has been noted a few times in 
North America. A specimen was taken October 20, 1842, at Wash- 
ington, D. C, and two days later a second was secured (Smith); one 
was captured September 15, 1892, at Shinnecock Bay, Long Island, 
New York (Young), and one August 11, 1900, at Chatham, Mass. 
(Howe and Allen). There are less certain records of its occurrence 
in the region of Hudson Bay (Blakiston). There seems to be no 
sure record for Greenland, though the regular breeding range extends 
west to England, Scotland, and Iceland. The species breeds east 
to Turkestan and probably to the valley of the Yenisei, and north to 
the islands of the Arctic coast. It winters from Great Britain and the 
Caspian Sea south to northern Africa and India. 

Red-backed Sandpiper. Pelidna alpina saJcalina (Vieill.). 

Breeding range. — The red-backed sandpiper has two well-defined 
breeding areas corresponding in general to the Atlantic and Pacific 
winter ranges. The birds of the Atlantic coast breed from north- 
eastern Ungava (Weiz) and Cape Fullerton, Hudson Bay (Low), north 
to Bellot Strait (McClintock). A few (of either this form or the last) 
breed on the west coast of Greenland, from which country there are 
eggs in the United States National Museum. The birds of the Pacific 
coast breed in Alaska from the mouth of the Yukon (Nelson) north 
to Point Barrow (Murdoch), and on much of the northern coast of 
Siberia west possibly to Yenisei River (Seebohm). The region of 
intergradation along the coast of Siberia is not yet definitely deter- 
mined. These two breeding areas are separated by nearly 1,500 
miles of Arctic coast, from Point Barrow to the Boothia Peninsula, 
and throughout this whole region there seems to be no certain record 
of the occurrence of the red-backed sandpiper. If it does occur, it 
must be very rare, and the probability that it does not is increased by 
the fact that the species is not known as a migrant in the region 
immediately to the south. It is abundant as a migrant along the 
west coast of Hudson Bay (Preble) and has been taken at Dawson, 
Yukon (Cantwell), but as yet is unrecorded in the intervening districts. 

Winter range. — Few of the shorebirds go so short a distance to the 
southward as the red-backed sandpiper. It is common in winter 



44 XOETH AMEEICAK SHOEEBIRDS. 

as far soutli as central Florida (Scott), and has been recorded once in 
the Bahamas (Todd;. On the coast of Texas it ranges to the mouth 
of the Rio Grande (Merrill', but is not yet known in northeastern 
Mexico. On the Pacific coast it is abundant south to southern Lower 
California (Belding . but seems not to pass farther south. The only 
record south of the region just outhned is that of a specimen, undoubt- 
edly a straggler, taken May 23. at Momotomba, Nicaragua (specimen 
in British Mtisetim . Dimng the printer the species remains north 
to the coasts of North Carolina (Bishop), Xew Jersey, casually 
(Stone). Louisiana (Beyer . Texas (Carroll), and at least to central 
Washington ^Bowles"^. The Siberian birds of this form winter from 
Japan and China to the Malay Ai'chipelago. 

Syr'.:'.g !!.\0: :[:\-:ri\, — Most of the spring movements occur in May, 
but a few early bnds press northward in April: Long Beach, New 
Jersey, April 17. 1S77 ; Scott : Long Island, Xew York, April 3, 
1SS2 ^Chapman;; Erie, Pa., April 21, 1900 (Todd;. On the Atlantic 
coast north of Massachusetts the species is not so common in spring 
as in faU. while around the Great Lakes the reverse is the case. The 
main body of the Atlantic coast birds seem to reach their breeding 
grounds by way of the Great Lakes and Hudson Bay. Along this 
route thev are late micTants. reachins southern Ontario on the averaofe 
May 20, earhest May 13, 1905 (Taverner). 

The Pacific coast birds appeared in southern British Columbia 
April 25. ISSS (Brooks\ and April 26. 1SS9 (Brooks : one was seen 
as early as April 2. 1S97. at Howcan 'Cantwelh. in the extreme 
southern part of Alaska. Other dates of spring arrival are: Fort 
Kenai, May 16. 1S69 Osgood); Kigulik Mountains, May 17. 1905 
(Anthony): Dawson, Yukon, May 24. 1S99 (CantweU ; Point Bar- 
row, Alaska, May 31, 1SS2 Qliu-doch), May 29, 1SS3 CMurdoch). and 
June 2, 1S9S (Stone). 

None were noted in Lower Cahfornia after May 10 (Belding \. but 
in central Florida they have been recorded as late as June 2, 1886 
'Scott . and in southern Ontario the average date of the last seen 
is June 4, latest June 13, 1891 (Nash). 

Eggs have been taken at the mouth of the Yukon, June 6, 1S79 
(Nelson : Cape Prince of Wales. Jmie 27, 1898 (GriLmelF) : and at 
Point Barrow. June 22. 1SS3 (Murdoch). At this last locahty the 
eggs in some seasons must be laid earher than the above date, for in 
1S9S downy young were taken July 6 (Stone). 

Fall /niorrfflon. — Early faU migrants were passing south Jidy 19, 
1900. along the west shore of Hudson Bay. near York Factory (Preble), 
and two weeks later they were enormously abundant, showing that 
this is one of the principal routes in faU migration. Since the species 
is not common in the Mississippi Valley and is comparatively rare in 
western Ontario in the fall, it is evident that manv of these Hudson 



SPOON-BILL SANDPIPER. 45 

Bay birds turn eastward to the Atlantic coast. An early arrival 
appeared on Long Island, New York, July 17, 1897 (Worthington) , 
but the usual time of arrival is a month or more later; Hay ward, 
Calif., August 3, 1889 (Emerson); Point de Monts, Quebec, August 
28, 1883 (Merriam); Plymouth, Mass., September 17, 1852 (Browne); 
Erie, Pa., September 21, 1875 (Sennett); Washington, D. C, Sep- 
tember 25, 1894 (Hasbrouck). 

The last deserted the breeding grounds at Point Barrow, Alaska, 
September 7, 1882 (Murdoch); September 4, 1897 (Stone). The 
last have been noted at St. George Island, Alaska, October 3, 1899 
(Bishop); Bering Island, October 25, 1884 (Grebnitsky) ; Chicago, 
111., November 3, 1906 (Ferry); Oberlin, Ohio, October 27, 1906 
(Jones); St. Clair Flats, Michigan, November 20, 1904 (Blain); Otta- 
wa, Ontario, average October 4, latest October 29, 1889 (White); 
Portland, Me., November 11, 1906 (Eastman); Barnstable, Mass., 
December 23, 1903 (Howe); Comox, British Columbia, December 5, 
1903 (Brooks). 

Curlew Sandpiper. Erolia ferruginea (Briinn.). 

The curlew sandpiper breeds only in the Eastern Hemisphere, but 
wanders not infrequently to the Atlantic coast of North America. 
The only eggs so far known were taken July 3, 1897, in the delta of 
the Yenisei River, Siberia (Newton); and June 24-Jyly 6, 1900, on 
the northwestern coast of the Taimyr Peninsula, Siberia (Dresser). 
It is probable that all Greenland records for this species are erro- 
neous, and that the only reliable record in Arctic America is that of 
the single individual taken June 8, 1883, at Point Barrow, Alaska 
(Murdoch). On the Atlantic coast of America it has been recorded 
about twenty times from Halifax, Nova Scotia (Jones), to Cape May, 
N. J. (Abbott). A few dates are in May, but the larger part are in 
the fall from August to October. One specimen was taken about 
1886 in the interior at Toronto, Ont. (Fleming). The species has 
been recorded from Grenada Island, West Indies (Cory), and there 
is a specimen in the British Museum said to have been taken in eastern 
Patagonia. 

In winter the curlew sandpiper ranges south to southern Africa, 
India, the Malay Archipelago, and Australia. During migration it 
has been noted in the Philippines and China, and west to Great 
Britain. 

Spoon-biU Sandpiper. Eurynorhynchus pygmeus (Linn.). 

The spoon-bill sandpiper inhabits the Eastern Hemisphere and 
ranges in summer to northeastern Siberia. It migrates through Japan 
and China and winters as far south as Burma and India. One was 
taken in 1849 on the Choris Peninsula of Alaska — the only record for 
the Western Hemisphere. 



46 NOETH AMERICAN SHOEEBIEDS. 

Semipalmated Sandpiper. Ereunetes pusiUus (Linn.). 

Breeding range, — The semipalmated sandpiper breeds in Ungava 
at Okak (Crandall) and south to Fort George (Drexler), and also on 
the Barren Grounds from Hudson Bay (Eifrig) west to Franklin Bay 
(MacFarlane), along the Arctic coast to Kotzebue Sound, Alaska 
(Grinnell), and south on the western coast of Alaska to St. Michael 
(specimens in United States National Museum). 

Winter range. — It winters mainly in eastern South America, south 
to Patagonia Qatitude 43° S.) (Seebohm), and thence north through 
Central America and the West Indies to eastern Mexico (Sumichrast), 
southern Texas (Refugio County; Carroll), Florida (Scott), and the 
coast of Georgia (Helme) and South Carolina (specimen in United 
States National Museum) . 

Migration range. — The semipalmated sandpiper is a rare spring 
but an abundant fall migrant along the whole Atlantic coast. It is a 
common fall migrant through the Bermudas (Hurdis), Bahamas 
(Bryant), and the West Indies east of Cuba. It is common both 
spring and fall in the ^Mississippi Valley, becoming less common west- 
ward to the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains, and west of the 
mountains to western British Columbia (Brooks), Sitka, Alaska (Bis- 
choff), Cook Inlet (Chapman), Norton Sound (^IcGregor), St. Paul 
Island (Palmer), and the coast of northeastern Siberia (Nelson). It 
has occurred in migration on the coast of Peru (Salvin). 

Spnng migration. — Almost all the spring records for the Atlantic 
coast are in May, while migration in the Mississippi Valley begins in 
April: Camden, Ind., average of three years April 21, earhest April 
18, 1886 (Groninger); Keokuk, Iowa, average of eight years April 
30, earhest April 19, 1S9S (Currier); Fort Lyon, Colo., April 25, 1886 
(Thorne) ; Indian Head, Saskatchewan, May 16, 1S92 (Macoun) ; Fort 
Chipewyan, Alberta, May 24, 1901 (Preble); Great Bear Lake, Mac- 
kenzie, May 24, 1826 (Richardson); Kowak River, Alaska, May 29, 
1899 (Grinnell). Nonbreeding birds are found here and there in 
summer from Wisconsin (Kumhen and HoUister) to Massachusetts 
(Howe and Allen) . 

Eggs have been taken at Fort George, L'ngava, June 24, 1860 
(Drexler); Franklin Bay, Mackenzie, June 30, 1864 (young July 5, 
1865), (MacFarlane) ; St. Michael, Alaska, June 9. 1880 (specimens 
in United States National Museum) ; and young just hatched at Cape 
Blossom, Alaska, June 30, 1898 (Grinnell). 

Fall migration. — Like so many other sandpipers the semipalmated 
begins to move south so early that it appears in the L^nited States in 
July; southern Mississippi, average of three years July 16, earliest 
July 10, 1905 (Brodie and Kopman); Fernandina, Fla., July 14, 1906 
(Worthington) ; Porto Rico, August 11, 1901 (Bowdish); La Guaira, 
Venezuela, August 10 (Robinson and Richmond), andMarajo. Brazil, 



WESTERN SANDPIPER. " 47 

August 4 (Allen). Specimens were taken July 3, 1907, at Coronado 
de Terraba, Costa Rica (Carriker), but these may have been non- 
breeders that had not made the northward journey. Young birds 
migrate about a month later, and it is probably these that afford the 
following average dates: North River, Prince Edward Island, August 
8 (Bain) ; Long Island, New York, August 10 (Worthington) ; Beaver 
Pa., August 14 (Todd); Keokuk, Iowa, August 18 (Currier). 

The average date of the last one seen at Point Barrow, Alaska, is 
August 15, latest August 18, 1882 (Murdoch); Herschel Island, 
Yukon, August 2, 1894 (Russell); York Factory, Keewatin, August 
26, 1900 (Preble); Ottawa, average of the last one seen September 9, 
latest September 17, 1892 (White); Lewiston, Me., October 17, 1900 
(Johnson); Ossining, N. Y., October 20, 1885 (Fisher); Washington, 
D. C, October 26, 1887 (Richmond). 

Western Sandpiper. Ereunetes mauri Cabanis. 
Breeding range. — The western sandpiper's breeding range, as at 
present known, is a narrow strip along the northwestern coast of 
Alaska from the mouth of the Yukon (specimens in United States 
National Museum) to Cape Prince of Wales (Grinnell) . 

Winter range. — Though breeding only on the northwest coast, this 
sandpiper is common in winter on the Atlantic coast from North 
Carolina (Bishop) to Florida (Scott). This long migration across the 
continent to the southeastward from the breeding grounds is very 
remarkable, and is not paralleled in the case of any other shorebird. 
It is, however, comparable with the migration of several species of 
ducks from the Mackenzie Valley to Chesapeake Bay. The species 
also winters from La Paz, Lower California (specimen in National 
Museum), to southern Mexico (Lawrence), Guatemala (Sharpe), Co- 
lombia (Ridgway), and Venezuela (Robinson), and undoubtedly to 
the Lesser Antilles, but its distribution in the West Indies is not yet 
known with any accuracy. 

Migration range. — In passing from the summer to the winter home, 
the western sandpiper comes east to the Atlantic coast at least as far 
north as Massachusetts (Henshaw), and sometimes is quite common 
in the fall on Long Island (Braislin) and the coast of New Jersey 
(Baily). The strange fact is that there are no corresponding records 
from the interior to indicate the route by which these birds reach 
New England. The species seems not to be known north of southern 
Wisconsin (Kumlien and Hollister), Colorado (Osburn), and southern 
Wyoming (specimen in National Museum), while in all of the Missis- 
sippi Valley between the river and the Rocky Mountains the species 
is so very rare as to make it improbable that any large part of the 
New England birds migrate through this section. In fall migra- 
tion the species is known west in the Aleutians to Unalaska Island 
(Palmer). 



48 NOKTH AMERICAN SHOKEBIRDS. 

Spring migration. — Along the Atlantic coast the species is almost 
unknown in spring north of its ^^dnter range; the few known occur- 
rences are in May. To the westward some dates of spring arrival are : 
Galveston, Tex., March 24, 1891 (Singley) ; San Pedro River, Arizona, 
April 17, 1902 (Howard); Monterey, Cahf., April 6, 1903 (Bren- 
inger) ; Redwood City, Calif., April 14, 1907 (Carriger and Pemberton) ; 
Corvalhs, Oreg., April 21, 1899 (Woodcock); southern British Colum- 
bia, April 26, 1889, and April 20, 1905 (Brooks); Fort Kenai, Alaska, 
May 12, 1869 (Bischoff); St. ]\Iichael, May 28, 1874 (Turner). 

Most of the individuals have left southern Lower California by 
May 10 (Belding) and the northern part by the middle of the month 
(Kaeding). The species was still present at Owen Lake, Cahfornia, 
June 1, 1891 (Fisher). Eggs have been found at the mouth of the 
Yukon June 5 (specimens in L^nited States National Museum) and 
near Cape Prince of Wales, June 28, 1898 (Grinnell). 

Fall migration. — The first fall migrants were noted at Tulare Lake, 
California, July 7-8, 1907 (Goldman), and the species was taken off 
the coast of Venezuela July 7, 1895 (Robinson). The first of these 
records probably represents birds in migration; the other, non- 
breeders that had summered far south of the breeding groimds. 
Some other fall records are: Southern British Columbia, average of 
five years August 14 as the date of fall arrival (Brooks); Semiahmoo 
Bay, Washington, July 15, 1857 (Kennerly); Santa Barbara, Cahf., 
July 3, 1875 (Sharpe) ; Fort Bridger, Wyo."^ July 13, 1858, (Drexler); 
near Arco, Idaho, July 25, 1890 (Merriam); Rockport, Tex., August 
12, 1905 (HoweU); Monomoy Island, Massachusetts, July 19, 1888 
(Brewster); Charleston, S. C, about Jul}' 8 (Wayne); Haiti, July 11, 
1883 (Stone); San Mateo, Tehuantepec, August 7, 1869 (specimen in 
L^nited States National Museum). The latest date in southern 
British Columbia is September 11, 1889 (Brooks); Hayward, Cahf., 
November 4, 1889 (Emerson); Monomo}^ Island, Massachusetts, 
September 19, 1888 (Brewster); Cape May County, N. J., September 
15, 1895 (Baily) ; Washington, D. C, September 22, 1894 (Hasbrouck). 

Sanderling. Calidris leucophxa (Pallas). 
Breeding range. — The sanderling is a cosmopolite, breeding and 
wintering in both hemispheres. It is known to breed north to 
Point Barrow, Alaska (Stone), Melville Island (Fisher), Grinnell Land 
(Feilden), both coasts of Greenland (Bessels and Winge), the Taimyr 
Peninsula, Siberia (Walter), and undoubtedly breeds on the New 
Siberian Islands (Newcombe). It breeds south to Iceland (Gates), to 
Cape Fullerton, Hudson Bay (Low), and to Franklin Bay, Mackenzie 
(MacFarlane). 

Winter range. — Some sanderhngs pass in winter to central Argen- 
tina (Tambo Point, 44° S.: Durnford), and to Talcahuano, central 
Chile (Sharpe), 8,000 miles from the nearest breeding groimds; while 



SANDERLING. 49 

others remain as common winter residents on the Atlantic coast of 
the southeastern United States north to North Carohna (Smithwick) 
and casually even to Massachusetts (Mackay). The species winters 
on the coast of Texas (Merrill) and on the Pacific coast regularly to 
central California (Cooper) and occasionally to Washington (Cooper 
and Suckley) . 

It occurs in fall migration on the Hawaiian Islands, where it has 
been taken from September 25 to October 14 and where a few may 
winter (Henshaw). 

The sanderlings of the eastern hemisphere winter from the Mediter- 
ranean and Japan south to southern Africa, the Malay Archipelago, 
and Oceania. 

Migration range. — The sanderling is common on the coasts of the 
world and on the larger inland waters. It is abundant on both coasts 
of North America and common on the Great Lakes. It has been 
recorded in migration from almost every State of the Union, but is 
quite rare in all the district between the Great Lakes and the Pacific 
coast. 

Spring migration. — The northward movement begins in March, 
bringing the species the latter part of this month to the New England 
coast and to the central Mississippi Valley. Further advance is so 
slow that the sanderling is among the later birds to arrive at the 
breeding grounds, which are reached the first week in June. Some 
dates of spring arrival are: Fort Simpson, Mackenzie, May 29, 1904 
(Preble); Pomt Barrow, Alaska, latitude 71°, June 2, 1882 (Mur- 
doch), June 6, 1898 (Stone); Prince of Wales Strait, 73°, June 7, 
1851 (Armstrong); Bay of Mercy, 74°, June 3, 1852 (Armstrong); 
Winter Island, 66°, June 10, 1822 (Lyon); Igloolik, 69°, June 16, 
1823 (Parry); Grinnell Land, 82° 33', June 4, 1876 (Feilden); west 
coast of Greenland at 72°, May 29, 1850 (Sutherland); at 78°, June 
5, 1854 (Kane); Taimyr Peninsula, Siberia, 74°, June 4 (Seebohm). 
Specimens were taken in Chile in May (Schalow) ; in British Honduras 
May 18-20 (Salvin); southern Florida, May 25 (Scott); the coast of 
New Jersey, June 13 (Abbott). The species remains regularly on 
the New England coast and about the Great Lakes until the first 
week in June. The fact that nonbreeders remain through the summer 
far south of the nesting grounds has probably furnished the basis 
for the reports of the breeding of the species south of the Arctic 
coast. 

The first eggs known to science were taken June 29, 1863, near 
Franklin Bay, Mackenzie (MacFarlane) , a locality where the species 
is very rare. The most northern known eggs were taken June 24, 
1876, near the north coast of Grinnell Land, at latitude 82° 33' 
(Feilden). Eggs were taken in July at Thank God Harbor, Green- 
land (Bessels), and both late June and early July on the Taimyr 
Peninsula, Siberia (Walter). 
36595^'— Bull. 35—12 4 



50 NOKTH AMERICAN SHOEEBIEDS. 

Fall migration. — The sanderling was seen off the coast of Venezuela 
July 7, 1895 (Robinson), but regular fall migration does not begin 
until some weeks later, as shown by the following dates of fall arrival, 
which in each case are considerably earlier than the average: Big 
Stick Lake, Saskatchewan, July 19, 1906 (Bent); Lincoln, Nebr., 
August 7, 1900 (Wolcott); Toronto, Ontario, July 16, 1898 (Nash); 
Newfoundland, August 2, 1887 (Palmer); Erie, Pa., July 27, 1900 
(Todd); Long Island, New York, July 20, 1900 (Scott); San Mateo, 
Tehuantepec, August 5, 1869 (Sumichrast) . The last was seen at 
Point Barrow, August 27, 1897 (Stone); St. Michael, Alaska, Septem- 
ber 11, 1899 (Bishop); Homer, Alaska, August 29, 1901 (Chapman); 
Prince of Wales Strait, August 30, 1850 (Armstrong); Grinnell Land, 
about August 31, 1882 (Greely); Prince Edward Island, October 30, 
1887 (Bain); Montreal, Canada, October 7, 1889 (Wintle); Lincoln, 
Nebr., October 4, 1898 (Bruner, Wolcott, and Swenk); Ottawa, On- 
tario, October 22, 1887 (White) ; Erie, Pa., November 17, 1902 (Todd). 

Marbled Godwit. Limosafedoa (Linn.). 

Breeding range. — ^Formerly the marbled godwit was a common 
breeder in northern Nebraska (Say), in northern Iowa south to about 
latitude 43° (Preston), and a few undoubtedly nested in Wisconsin, 
at about the same latitude (Kumlien and Hollister). It is not prob- 
able that the species now breeds in either State, and the principal 
summer home at the present time is from northern North Dakota 
(Rolfe) to the valley of the Saskatchewan (Bent). 

Winter range. — ^The species passes south in winter -to southern 
Guatemala (Salvin) and Belize (Sclater and Salvin), and remains as 
far north as southern Lower California (Forrer) and the coasts of 
Louisiana (Beyer), Florida (Scott), and Georgia (Worthington). 

Migration range. — On the way from the summer home to the winter, 
some individuals formerly took a course almost due east and appeared 
in the Maritime Provinces of Canada (Macoun) and on the coast of 
New England (Brown), becoming more common to the south until it 
would hardly have been called rare on Long Island and the New 
Jersey coast. At the present time it is almost unknown on the 
Atlantic coast north of Florida. There seem to be no winter records 
of the species in the West Indies, but as a rare visitant in faU migra- 
tion it has been recorded from Cuba (Gundlach), Porto Kico (Gund- 
lach), Grenada (WeUs), Carriacou (WeUs), and Trinidad islands 
(Leotaud) . 

A migration also takes place westward to the Pacific coast. Though 
the species is not knoi\TL to breed within several hundred miles of the 
Rocky Mountains, yet it has been noted on the coast of southern 
Alaska (Osgood) nearly a thousand miles west of the nearest breeding 
grounds. This species therefore presents the unique spectacle of a 
bird breeding in the middle of the American continent and migrating 



PACIFIC GODWIT. 51 

directly east and directly west to the ocean coasts. A wanderer was 
taken at Point Barrow, Alaska, August 26, 1897 (Stone), and several 
specimens have been taken on Hudson Bay (Preble). Individuals 
probably sometimes winter in California, as one was taken at Hum- 
boldt Bay, December 7, 1885 (Townsend), and at Lake Elsinore, 
February, 1902 (Nordhoff). 

Spring migration. — The marbled godwit is among the earlier 
migrants of the shorebirds; it reaches central Illinois in early April 
(Griffin) ; Heron Lake, Minnesota, average April 12, earliest April 8, 
1889 (Miller); Lincoln, Nebr., April 18, 1899 (Wolcott); Loveland, 
Colo., average April 27, earliest April 20, 1887 (Smith); Shoalwater 
Bay, Washington, April 13, 1854 (Cooper); southern Manitoba, 
average May 1, earliest April 29, 1901 (Wemyss); southern Sas- 
katchew^an, average May 3, earliest April 16, 1907 (Lang). Nearly 
all of the few spring records on the Atlantic coast are in May. 

Eggs have been found at Oakland Valley, Iowa, April 20, 1878 
(Kice); Winnebago, Iowa, May 6, 1871 (Krider); Miner County, 
S. Dak., May 16, 1892 (Patton); Minnewaukan, N. Dak., May 22, 
1892 (Rolfe); in Grant County, Minn., May 24, 1876 (Sennett); and 
in southern Saskatchewan, May 29, 1905 (Bent). The birds and their 
young were common June 8, 1820, near the mouth of the Loup Fork 
of the Platte, Nebraska (Say). 

Fall migration. — The return movement begins in July, since 
migrants have been taken at Ugashik, Alaska, July 16, 1881 (Osgood), 
on the New Jersey coast late in the month (Stone), and on Pea and 
Bodie islands, North Carolina, July 11, 1904 (Bishop). A gunner 
who shot for the market near Newport, P. I., obtained only 26 of 
these godwits during eight seasons, the extreme dates ranging from 
August 6, 1873, to October 2, 1868 (Sturtevant) . The latest date 
in Colorado is October 1, 1874 (Henshaw). 

Pacific Godwit. Limosa lapponica haueri Naum. 
The principal breeding range of the Pacific godv/it is in northeastern 
Siberia, but a few individuals cross to Alaska and breed from Un- 
alaska (Dall) to Kotzebue Sound (Grinnell). After the breeding 
season some wander northward to Point Barrow (Murdoch). They 
arrive on their breeding grounds early in May (Nelson), and are among 
the earliest of the waders to begin the fall migration (Nelson). The 
latest one seen at Point Barrow was August 18 (Murdoch), and 
early in September the last have left North America. The migration 
route passes through the Pribilof Islands, Commander Islands, Japan, 
China, and the Philippines. The winter home is in Australia, New 
Zealand, the Malay Archipelago, and many of the islands of 
Oceania. The Pacific godwit has been noted several times in the 
Hawaiian Islands (Bryan), and a straggler was once taken at La 
Paz, Lower California (Belding). 



52 KOETH AMERICAN" SHOEEBIEDS, 

Hudsonian Godwit. Limosa hxmastica i^Linn.). 

Breeding range. — The eggs of the Hudsonian godwit are known 
only from the Anderson River region of northwestern Mackenzie (Mac- 
Farlane), but since Edward A. Preble, of the Biological Survey, found 
the species common in July and August on the west coast of Hudson 
Bay, probably it breeds also not far north of this region. The breed- 
ing range is probably the Barren Groimds from the mouth of the 
Mackenzie to Hudson Bay. 

Winter range. — The species winters in Argentina and Chile south 
to Chiloe Island (Sclater and Salvin) on the west coast and to the 
Strait of Magellan (Sharped and the Falkland Islands (Abbotts 
But it is rare in eastern Patagonia south of the Chubut River (Durn- 
ford\, which is just opposite the southern limit on the western coast. 

Migration range. — The migration route between the winter and 
summer homes is not known. In fall migration the species appears 
rarely on the coast of Maine (Boardman) and more commonly in 
Massachusetts (Howe and Allen\ Rhode Island (Stiu'tevant), and 
Long Island (Dutcher). TVhither the birds go when they leave Long 
Island is as vet unknown. On the rest of the coast of the L^nited 
States the species is kno^Ti only as a very rare straggler. One acci- 
dental occurrence in Cuba (Gundlach) is the only record for the 
Greater Antilles, and in the Lesser Antilles it is kno^^Ti only fi'om 
the extreme eastern end on Barbados (Feilden) and Trinidad 
(Leotaud). It occiu's on the coast of British Guiana (Quelch) and 
in the interior of Brazil (Pelzeln). 

The species seems not to be recorded in spring anywhere on the 
Atlantic coast between Argentina and Long Island, with the excep- 
tion of a single pan seen May 8, 1906, near Rehoboth, Del. (Pennock). 
The very few records on Long Island (Sharpe) and in Xew England 
(Howe and Allen) during the spring incHcate that at this season it 
is only a straggler along the Atlantic. It passes in spring migration 
up the ^Mississippi Valley, entering the United States through Louisi- 
ana (Beyer) and Texas (Sharpe) and passing north principally along 
the eastern edge of the plains. The migration route between Argen- 
tina and Texas is unknown, for there is not a single spring record in 
the whole distance, and records at any time in the year are limited 
to one on the coast of Peru, November 9, 1883 (MacFarlane) ; one 
in Cuba, no date specified (Gundlach); and very doubtful records 
for Colombia (Burger) and Costa Rica (Zeledon). 

From the above very meager data, it seems probable that the 
Hudsonian godwit has a migration route similar to that of the 
golden plover, with this important difference — that whereas the 
golden plover first goes eastward from its breeding grounds to the 
coast of Labrador and crossing the Gulf of St. Lawrence strikes out 
to sea from Xova Scotia, the Hudsonian godwit starts in a south- 



BLACK-TAILED GODWIT. 53 

easterly course to and down the western shore of Hudson Bay and 
keeps much this same course overland to the coast of New England. 
Thence it goes directly across the ocean to the Lesser Antilles and 
British Guiana, and lastly south and southwest through central 
Brazil to the pampas of Argentina, and to the coast of central Chile. 
Judging by analogy from the golden plover, the spring migration 
route of the Hudsonian godwit is from the pampas of northwestern 
Argentina directly to the coast of Texas, and almost in one flight. 

This species is rare west of the Rocky Mountains. The British 
Museum contains specimens said to have been taken in California 
(Sharpe), but as this is the only record for the State it needs confir- 
mation. A few specimens have been taken in Alaska from the 
Kenai Peninsula (Osgood) to the Yukon mouth (Dall and Bannister), 
Nulato (Sharpe), and Point Barrow (Stone) on the north, but there 
is no evidence that the species breeds west of the Mackenzie River. 
Though the Hudsonian godwit is now very rare on the New England 
coast, and has been since about 1886, yet previously it was so com- 
mon that a gunner near Newport, R. I., records the shooting of 104 
birds in the years 1867-1874 (Sturtevant) . 

Spring migration. — The species arrives on the coast of Texas in 
April (Sharpe) and has been recorded at Lawrence, Kans., as early 
as April 19, 1873 (Snow); St. Louis, Mo., April 19, 1872 (Hurter); 
in Grant County, Minn., April 25, 1876 (Sennett); Indian Head, 
Saskatchewan, May 11, 1892 (Macoun); Fort Kenai, Alaska, May 5, 
1869 (Bischoff). Specimens were taken on the Falkland Islands as 
late as May 20, 1860 (Abbott), and in Argentina to May 24 (Sharpe). 
The earliest eggs taken were on June 7, 1862, at Fort Anderson 
(MacFarlane). 

Fall migration. — A Biological Survey party found the Hudsonian 
godwit already in southward migration July 19, 1900, near York 
Factory, Keewatin (Preble); it was noted July 29, 1869, on the coast 
of Rhode Island (Sturtevant) ; it arrives in August in the Lesser An- 
tilles (Leotaud); in September in Brazil (Pelzeln); and by early 
November has appeared at the extreme southern limit of the range 
(Durnf ord) . It is probably the arrival of young birds that is recorded 
at Barbados (Feilden) in October, with October 7 as the average of 
three years and October 5, 1886, as the earliest. 

The last seen near Cape Churchill, Hudson Bay, in 1900, was on 

August 24 (Preble); Toronto, Ontario, October 20, 1890 (Fleming); 

Montreal, Canada, October 11, 1895 (Wintle); Rhode Island, October 

13, 1873 (Sturtevant), and Massachusetts, November 3 (Howe and 

Allen). 

Black-tailed Godwit. Limosa limosa (Linn.). 

The black-tailed godwit is confined to the Eastern Hemisphere, 
breeding in Iceland, and from Holland and southern Russia north to 
the Arctic Circle and east to western Siberia. It winters in southern 



54 ITOETH AMERICAN SHOEEBIEDS. 

Europe and south to Abyssinia. A specimen was taken about 1830 
near Godthaab, Greenland (Reinhard), and there are other less cer- 
tain records of its occurrence in that country. 

Green-shank. Glottis nebularia (Gunn.). 

The green-shank has a very wide range in the Eastern Hemisphere. 
It breeds in Scotland, northern Scandinavia, and east to northern 
Siberia; it migrates along the coasts of both Europe and Asia, even 
to Japan and the Commander Islands; it winters from southern 
Europe and India to southern Africa and Australia. 

The only record for the United States is that of three specimens 
taken by Audubon, May 28, 1832, on Sand Key, near Cape Sable, 
Florida. The species has also been recorded as an accidental visitant 
to Chile (Schlegel) and Buenos Aires, Argentina (Seebohm). 

Common Red-shank. Totanus totanus (Linn.). 

The common red-shank is scarcely entitled to a place among North American birds. 
Its claim rests only on the description by Swainson and Richardson of a specimen 
from Hudson Bay which they said existed in the British Museum. 

The common red-shank is a well-known species of Europe and Asia, where it breeds 
from Iceland and the Faroe Islands to southern Siberia and Turkestan and south to 
northern Africa. It winters in southern Europe, throughout most of Africa, and in 
Asia south to India and the Malay Archipelago. 

Greater Yellow-legs. Totanus melanoleucus (Gmel.). 

Breeding range. — Kjiowledge of the summer home of the greater 
yellow-legs is much lacldng in definiteness. One of the best known 
facts is that the bird does not go far north, since it is one of the few 
species of the family not found on the Arctic coast, nor even to the 
Arctic Circle. The most northern records are: Near Fort Chimo, 
Ungava (Turner); accidental once at Cumberland Sound (Kumlien); 
on the west shore of Hudson Bay to about Cape Eskimo (Preble); 
Fort Simpson, Mackenzie (Ross); and to Kupreanof Island (Osgood), 
Lake Iliamna (Osgood), and St. Paul Island (Scale) — all in Alaska. 
The southern limit of the breeding range is more difficult to deter- 
mine, since the mere presence of the bird in summer is not sufficient 
proof that it is breeding. Individuals are found during every month 
of the year in the West Indies, Bahamas, Florida, Texas (Sennett), 
and California (Grinnell), but it is not probable that the species breeds 
in any of these locahties. 

Eggs have been taken in British Columbia at Fort George and Fort 
St. James (specimens in United States National Museum), and three sets 
on June 3 and June 13, 1911, in Newfoundland (Arnold). The bird 
probably breeds in British Columbia as far south as Clinton (Rhoads) ^ 
and eastward across Canada, north of about the fiftieth parallel of 
latitude. 

Winter range. — The greater yellow-legs winters to the southern end of 
the mamland of South America. To the north it occurs on both coasts 
and in Central America, Mexico, and the West Indies to the coast of 



GREATER YELLOW-LEGS. 55 

Georgia (Helme) — occasionally to North Carolina (Bishop) — Loui- 
siana (Edwards), Texas (Merrill), and California. In this latter State 
it winters on the coast north at least to Los Angeles County (Grinnell), 
and in the interior to Owen Lake (Fisher). 

Spring migration. — The advance begins in March, and the first 
reach Raleigh, N. C, on the average April 3, earliest March 22, 1893 
(Brimley) ; Long Island, New York, average April 22, earliest April 
17, 1896 (Worthington) ; eastern Massachusetts, average April 26, 
earliest April 22, 1893 (Browne) ; southern Maine, average May 9, 
earliest April 26, 1896 (Morrell); city of Quebec, Canada, average 
April 30, earliest April 18, 1903 (Dionne); Point de Monts, Quebec, 
average May 5, earliest April 26, 1885 (Comeau). Lake Mistassini, 
Quebec, May 7, 1885 (Macoun). Some other early dates along the 
Atlantic coast are: Patapsco Marsh, Maryland, March 26, 1875 (Kirk- 
wood); Carlisle, Pa., March 19, 1844 (Baird); Westport Harbor, 
Massachusetts, March 10, 1899 (Howe and Sturtevant). The average 
date of arrival in central Illinois is April 6, earliest March 22, 1890 
(Brown); Chicago, 111., average April 24, earliest April 14, 1895 
(Blackwelder) ; Oberlin, Ohio, average April 18, earliest April 12, 1905 
(Jones); southern Michigan, average April 27, earliest April 24, 1897 
(Hankinson); southern Ontario, average April 28, earliest April 13, 
1896 (Taverner) ; Ottawa, Ontario, average May 9, earliest April 28, 
1905 (White); Keokuk, Iowa, average April 14, earliest March 26, 
1893 (Currier); Elk River, Minn., average April 21, earliest April 17, 
1886 (Bailey) ; Aweme, Manitoba, average May 4, earliest April 30, 
1902 (Criddle); Kansas City, Mo., March 9, 1903 (Bryant); Manhat- 
tan, Kans., March 11, 1883 (Lantz); Lincoln, Nebr., April 10, 1899 
(Wolcott); Fort Lyon, Colo., March 28, 1886 (Thorne); Loveland, 
Colo., March 26, 1890 (Smith); Cheyenne, Wyo., April 11, 1888 
(Bond); Great Falls, Mont., April 17, 1892 (Williams); Rathdrum, 
Idaho, April 20, 1901 (Danby); Fort Simpson, Mackenzie, May 23, 
1860 (Ross), May 16, 1904 (Preble); Chilliwack, British Columbia, 
March 28, 1888 and 1889 (Brooks); Fort Kenai, Alaska, May 6^ 1869 
(Bischoff). 

Those individuals that are to breed leave the United States by the 
first week in June. The species is common in Chile and Argentina 
through the winter and to early April, when most leave for the north, 
but some remain the whole summer in Argentina (Holland), 6,000 
miles south of the breeding range. 

Eggs have been taken at Fort St. James, British Columbia, May 31, 

1889 (MacFarlane) , and at Fort George, British Columbia, May 20, 

1890 (specimens in United States National Museum). The earliest 
downy young noted in 1901 in the Caribou district, British Columbia, 
were seen on June 15 (Brooks). 

Fall migration. — Hardly six weeks elapse between the passage 
of the last northward-bound migrants on Long Island, New York, 



56 NOETH AMERICAN SHOEEBIEDS. 

and the appearance of the fii'st fall migrants; on the average the last 
in spring pass May 28, latest June 14, 1901 (Scott), while the average 
date of fall arrival is July 19, earhest July 10, 1887 (Scott). The 
larger flights there do not come until August, and the species is most 
common in September and October. Formerly this was one of the 
common species of shorebirds and one much sought by gunners. 
A hunter near Newport, R. I., shot 1,362 greater yellow-legs in the 
eight seasons 1867-1874, on dates ranging from July 20, 1870, to 
November 4, 1870; his highest score, 419 birds, was in 1873, from 
August 19 to October 19. Dates of fall arrival are: Granville, Wash., 
July 7, 1897 (Young); Utah Lake, Utah, July 26, 1872 (Henshaw); 
Aweme, Manitoba, average July 29, earhest July 27, 1901 (Criddle); 
Lipscomb, Tex., one June 29, common July 8, 1903 (Howell) ; Pacheco, 
Chihuahua, July 30, 1905 (Brown); Toronto, Ontario, July 28, 1891 
(Nash); CuUingham Cove, Ungava, July 31, 1891 (Norton); Anti- 
costi Island, July 8, 1881 (Brewster) ; Erie, Pa., July 28, 1896 (Todd) ; 
Washington, D. C, July 24, 1890 (Richmond); Bahama Islands, 
July 6, 1904 (Allen) ; Barbados, West Indies, July 25, 1886 (Planning) ; 
Bonaire Island, off the coast of Venezuela, July 21, 1892 (Hartert). 
Dates of the last seen are : Near Fort Churchill, Keewatin, August 
8, 1900 (Preble); Hayes Run, Keewatin, August 30, 1900 (Preble); 
Oxford House, Keewatin, September 10, 1900 (Preble); Cumberland 
Sound, September 14, 1877 (Kumhen) ; near Fort Chimo, Ungava, 
September 19, 1882 (Turner); Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, October 
21, 1884 (Nash); ChiUiwack, British Columbia, November 17, 1888, 
(Brooks) , November 21, 1889 (Brooks) ; Long Island, New York, aver- 
age November 5, latest November 20, 1901 (Scott). The late dates 
of departure explain the name winter yellow-legs for this species. 

Yellow-legs. Totanus flavipes (Gmel.). 
Breeding range. — The principal summer home of the yellow-legs is 
the Barren Grounds and neighboring regions to the southward. The 
species ranges north to southern Ungava (Selwyn) , central Keewatin 
(Preble), and nearly to the Arctic coast in northern Mackenzie (^lac- 
Farlane). It breeds north to Kotzebue Sound (Townsend) and Fort 
Yukon (Dall and Bannister), but apparently does not occur on the 
northern coast of Alaska. The southern Hmit of the breeding range 
is imperfectly known; the species breeds in Yukon at least south to 
Lake Marsh (Bishop), and in the interior probably to southern 
Alberta (^lacoun), southern Saskatchewan (^lacoun), and northern 
Quebec (Macoun). 

Winter range. — The yellow-legs passes south in winter to the Strait 
of Magellan (Gay) and occurs at tliis season quite generally over the 
southern half of South America, and even in the mountains up to 
10,000 feet (Sclater). Winter records north of this region are few, 
and probably only a comparatively small number regularly winter 



Bui. 35, Biological Survey, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 



Plate I. 




Yellow-legs (Totanus flavipes). 



YELLOW-LEGS. 57 

north of South America. A few winter in southern Mexico, as far 
north as Cozumel Island (Sharpe) and La Barca, JaHsco (Goldman) ; 
a few are noted occasionally in Louisiana (Beyer) and in Florida in 
winter (Pillsbury), and the species occurs rarely in the Bahamas at 
this season (Bonhote). 

Migration range. — The yellow-legs is common on the Atlantic coast 
in fall and many pass through the Lesser Antilles. In this latter 
region it is practically unknown in spring, and it is rare in spring 
migration on the Atlantic coast north of Long Island, New York. 
These facts would seem to indicate that some yellow-legs pursue 
different migration routes in fall and spring. The species is a common 
migrant in the Mississippi VaUey both spring and fall, and hence 
probably most of those that go south through the Lesser Antilles 
return in spring to their breeding grounds by way of the Mississippi 
Valley. 

The species is not common on the Atlantic coast north of the Gulf 
of St. Lawrence, though one was taken October 8, 1882, near Fort 
Chimo, Ungava (Turner), and two have been taken in southern 
Greenland (Winge). 

The yellow-legs is rarely seen west of the Rocky Mountains, but a 
few occur along the coast from northern Alaska (Grinnell) to southern 
Lower Cahfornia (Brewster). One was taken June 11, 1890, on St. 
Paul Island (Palmer) . 

Spring migration. — The following dates show the usual time at 
which the yellow-legs arrives in its northward migration: Northern 
Texas, average March 26, earliest March 22, 1899 (Mayer); central 
Missouri, average April 14, earhest April 9, 1903 (Bryant); Keokuk, 
Iowa, average April 16, earhest March 11, 1894 (Currier); central 
Nebraska, average April 28, earhest March 27, 1900 (Wolcott); 
Chicago, 111., average April 23, earhest April 15, 1899 (Gault) ; Oberlin, 
Ohio, average April 28, earhest April 23, 1904 (Jones); Raleigh, 
N. C, average April 1, earhest March 25, 1893 (Brimley). The fol- 
lowing are dates of occurrence somewhat earlier than the average: 
Cumberland, Ga., March 12, 1902 (Helme); Washington, D. C, 
March 12, 1906 (Green) ; Havre de Grace, Md., March 15, 1895 (Kirk- 
wood); near Newport, R. L, April 28, 1902 (King); Godbout, Que- 
bec, May 5, 1888 (Comeau) ; San Antonio, Tex., March 20, 1903 (Nor- 
ton); Bay St. Louis, Miss., March 13, 1902 (Allison); Sioux City, 
Iowa, March 11, 1864 (Feilner); southern Ohio, March 18, 1901 
(Henninger); Lanesboro, Minn., April 7, 1890 (Hvoslef); Fort Lyon, 
Colo., March 30, 1886 (Thome) ; Indian Head, Saskatchewan, April 
25, 1892 (Macoun); Edmonton, Alberta, May 1, 1901 (Preble); Fort 
Reliance, Yukon, May 3 (Nelson) ; Fort Resolution, Mackenzie, May 
5, 1860 (Kennicott); WiUow River, Mackenzie, May 9, 1904 (Mills 
and Jones); Fort Reliance, Mackenzie, May 13, 1834 (Back); Fort 



58 XOBTH AMERICAN SHOBEBIRDS. 

rranklin, Mackenzie, May 16, 1826 (Richardson); Fort Anderson, 
Mackenzie, May 27, 1865 (MacFarlane) . The yeUow-legs is thus 
about the earhest shorebird to reach high northern latitudes. 

Eggs were taken at Fort Resolution June 1. 1860 (Kennicott); 
near Fort Anderson, June 15, 1863, June 20, 1864, and June 16, 1865 
(MacFarlane): and downy young July 1. 1899, at Lake Marsh, 
Yukon (Bishop). 

Fein migration. — Tiike so many other waders, the yellow-legs begins 
its southward journey early in July, so early indeed that migi^ants 
have appeared on the Bermudas by July 13 (Reid). Other dates of 
fall arrival are: Cbilhwack, British Columbia, July 25, 1889 (Brooks) ; 
Fort Lyon, Colo., July 23, 1884 (Thorne) ; Aweme, Manitoba, July 
26, 1901 (Oiddle): Toronto, Ontario, July 18, 1891 (Nash): near 
Chicago, El., July 3, 1893 (Dunn), abundant by July 25 (Parker); 
Long Island, New York, July 14, 1887 (Scott), July 9, 1905 (Latham) ; 
Long Beach, New Jersey, July 9, 1877 (Scott) ; James Island, Florida, 
July 20, 1901 (WiUiams): Key West, Fla., July 16, 1888 (Scott); 
Inagua, Bahamas, July 28, 1891 (Cory) ; Jamaica, August 2, 1891 
(Field); the average date of arrival in the Lesser Antilles is about 
July 25, earliest July 4, 1888 (Feilden) ; Santo Domingo, Venezuela, 
July 24, 1903 (Briceno); Fortin Page, Argentina, September 13, 1890 
(Kerr). The yellow-legs is one of the earhest birds to migrate in 
fall, and the greater number have left the breeding grounds by the 
latter part of August. A few linger quite late, as shown by the fol- 
lowing dates of the last seen: Near Fort Chimo, Ungava, October 8, 
1882 (Turner); Montreal, Canada, October 7, 1898 (Wintle); Scotch 
Lake, New Brunswick, October 28, 1901 C^Ioore) ; Ottawa, Ontario, 
October 18, 1901 (White); Lanesboro, [Minn., October 11, 1888 
(Hvoslef); Oberltn, Ohio, October 18, 1899 (Jones); Long Island, 
New York, October 18, 1905 (Latham); Erie, Pa., October 14, 1893 
(Todd); Lincoln, Nebr., November 17, 1900 (Wolcott). 

Solitary Sandpiper. Hebodromas solitarius (Wils.). 
Breeding range. — Few facts are known concerning the breeding 
range of this species. It has been seen in summer over a great extent 
of country; the young only a few days old have been noted in widely 
separated locahties, but the nest and eggs are almost unknown. 
The species as a whole, including the eastern and western forms, 
ranges north in summer to Newfoundland (Reeks) ; Fort Chimo, 
northern Ungava (Turner) ; Great Bear Lake, Mackenzie (Richard- 
son) ; and to Kowak River, in northwestern Alaska (Grinnell) . The 
southern limit of the breeding range is entirely undetermined. The 
birds stay in summer as far south as Pennsylvania (Todd), Illinois 
(Ridgway), Nebraska (Cary), Colorado (Cooke), and Washington 
(Dawson). 

Winter range. — There seem to be no winter records whatever of 
the western form of the sohtary sandpiper. There is every reason 



SOLITARY SANDPIPER. 59 

for believing that it winters in South America, and has not been 
distinguished there from the eastern form. The following state- 
ment of the winter range doubtless includes both forms, but it is not 
safe to conclude that the eastern form goes to eastern South America 
and the western form to the Pacific coast. It is known that the 
eastern form migrates to the Pacific coast of Mexico, and it is prob- 
able that thence southward the two forms commingle both in migra- 
tion and during the winter. The species as a whole ranges south in 
winter to Buenos Aires, Argentina (Barrows) ; to Caiza, in south- 
eastern Bolivia (Salvadori) ; and to Chorillos, central Peru (Tacza- 
nowski). It occurs regularly also at this season in northern South 
America to Guiana (Quelch), Venezuela (Berlepsch and Hartert), 
and Colombia (Salvin and Godman). North of South America it is 
not common anywhere in winter, and it may not winter at any of 
the following places, but it has been noted as late as December in 
Porto Rico (Bowdish), Costa Hica (Todd), Yucatan (Sharpe), Vera- 
cruz (Sharpe) , and northern Lower California (Stephens) . 

Migration range. — A specimen was taken in Greenland August 1, 
1878, at Kangek, latitude 64° (Hagerup) ; and one of the eastern 
form was taken October 28, at San Jose del Cabo, Lower California 
(Brewster). 

Spring migration. — The following records include both the eastern 
and western forms: The species arrives in the southern United 
States in March; Tallahassee, Fla., March 25, 1901 (WilHams); 
Coosada, Ala., March 28, 1878 (Brown); Bay St. Louis, Miss., March 
17, 1902 (Allison); New Orleans, La., average March 16, earliest 
March 5, 1900 (Allison); Boerne, Tex., March 25, 1880 (Brown); 
while some of the earliest records in California are at Los Angeles, 
April 21, 1897 (Grinnell), and Gridley, April 23, 1891 (Belding). 
Further progress northward is decidedly slow, as shown by the fol- 
lowing dates of arrival: Raleigh, N. C, average April 24, earliest 
April 4, 1889 (Brimley); near Asheville, N. C, average April 22, 
earliest April 9, 1890 (Cairns) ; Washington, D. C, average April 28, 
earliest April 25, 1900 (Preble); Englewood, N. J., average April 30, 
earliest April 28, 1900 (Lemmon) ; near New York City, average May 
4, earliest April 30, 1899 (Thayer); Renovo, Pa., average May 4, 
earliest May 1, 1897 (Pierce); eastern Massachusetts, average May 
6, earliest May 2, 1891 (Long) ; southwestern Maine, average May 11, 
earliest April 28, 1903 (Swain) ; Petitcodiac, New Brunswick, May 14, 
1887 (Willis); Pictou, Nova Scotia, May 7, 1894 (Hickman); Lake 
Mistassini, Quebec, May 23, 1885 (Macoun) ; central Iowa, average 
April 25, earliest April 10, 1899 (Savage) ; Chicago, 111., average April 
23, earliest April 7, 1887 (Coale) ; Bloomington, Ind., average May 2, 
earliest April 23, 1903 (McAtee) ; Oberlin, Ohio, average April 29, 
earliest April 18, 1909 (Jones); Ottawa, Ontario, average May 11, 



60 XOETH AMEBIC AX SHOBEBIEDS. 

earliest May 2, 1896 (Wliite; ; southern Wisconsin, average May 
Q, earliest April 25, 1897 (Russel); Lanesboro, Minn., average 
May 6, earliest April 24, 1888 (Hvoslef); near San Antonio, 
Tex., average April 17, earliest March 25, 1880 (Brown); central 
Kansas, average May 2, earhest April 23, 1885 (Kellogg); Har- 
risburg, N. Dak., average May 5, earliest May 3, 1904 (E^astgate) ; 
Aweme, Manitoba, average May 13, earhest May 9, 1906 (Griddle); 
Colorado Springs, Colo., May 1, 1882 (Allen and Brewster); Terry, 
Mont., May 7, 1903, May 9, 1904 (Cameron); Athabaska Landing, 
Alberta, May 5, 1901 (Preble) ; Sandy Creek, Alberta, May 14, 1903 
(Preble); Fort Providence, Mackenzie, May 14, 1905 (Jones); Fort 
Simpson, Mackenzie, May 10, 1904 (Preble) ; Great Bear Lake, May 
14, 1826 (Kichardson) ; Fort Steilacoom, Wash., May 6, 1856 (Suck- 
ley); Chilhwack, British Columbia, May 7, 1888 (Brooks); Nulato, 
Alaska, May 15, 1867, May 18, 1868 (DaUj ; Kowak River, Alaska, 
May 18, 1899 (GrinneU). 

One of the parties of the Biological Survey took downy young 
June 23, 1903, at Charhe Creek, Alaska (Osgood); e^s are reported 
from central Alberta, June 24, 1908, June 15, 1908, June 1 and June 
9, 1909 (Thayer and Arnold) , and young in the nest were found June 
19, 1908, at Stony Plain, Alberta (Stansell).- 

FaU migration. — ^Early dates in the fall south of the breeding 
range are: Washington, D. C, average July 21, earhest July 15, 
1899 (Howell): Raleigh, X. C, average July 25, earliest July 14, 
1894 (Biimley) ; Key West, Fla., July 28, 1888 (Scott); New Orleans, 
La., July 20, 1899 (Kopman) ; Kerrville, Tex., Jidy 20, 1903 (Lacey); 
Camp Apache, Ariz., July 29, 1873 (Henshaw); Bermudas, July 

19, 1874 (Reid); St. Ooix, West Indies, July 26, 1857 (Newton); 
San Jose del Cabo, Lower California, August 25, 1887 (Brewster); 
near Buenos Aires, Argentina, August 20, 18S0 (Barrows). 

Dates of the last seen are: Chilhwack, British Columbia, Septem- 
ber 13, 1889 (Brooks); Aweme, Manitoba, September 18, 1904 (Oid- 
dle); Chicago, HI., October 6, 1899 (Gault); Lhicoln, Xebr., October 

20, 1900 (Wolcott); Ottawa, Ontario, October 31, 1906 (White); 
Hillsboro, Iowa, October 20, 1899 (Savage); Delavan, Wis., October 
20, 1892 (Holhster); Lexmgton, Ky., October 23, 1904 (Dean); 
Pictou, Nova Scotia, October 8, 1894 (Hickman); Scotch Lake, 
New Brunswick, October 5, 1901 (^loore); southwestern Maine, 
October 21, 1904 (Norton); Renovo, Pa., October 14, 1897 (Pierce): 
Chesapeake Beach, Md., November 2, 1906 (Riley). 

Western Solitary Sandpiper. Helodronms soliiarms cimmmomeus (Biewst.). 

The western sohtary sandpiper occurs in western North America 
and ranges at least as far east as Great Slave Lake (Preble), Atha- 
baska Lake (Preble), the eastern foothills of the Rocky Mountains 



WILLET. 61 

in Colorado (Henshaw), and to central Texas (Gaut). It migrates 
throughout western Mexico and east to Veracruz (Sartorius) and 
Tehuantepec (Sumichrast) . As already stated, the winter range 
has not yet been determined. 

Green Sandpiper. Helodromas ocrophus (Linn.). 
The green sandpiper, an Old World species, is widely distributed 
breeding from the Pyrenees to southern Siberia, principally in the 
mountains. It winters from southern Europe and Japan, through- 
out Africa, and to Ceylon. It is supposed to have occurred at Hali- 
fax, Nova Scotia (Harting), and in the Hudson Bay Company's 
territory (Nuttall), but the evidence is not conclusive. 

Wood Sandpiper. Rhyacophilus glareola (Linn.). 
The wood sandpiper is one of the best known of the Old World 
sandpipers. It breeds over most of Europe and Asia from the valley 
of the Danube and northern China to the Arctic coast. It winters 
from the Mediterranean and India to southern Africa and the Malay 
Archipelago. The only record of the species in North America is 
that of a single specimen taken May 27, 1894, on Sanak Island, 
Alaska (Littlejohn). 

Willet. CatoptropJioru^ semipalmatus (GTael.). 

Breeding range. — The breeding range of the willet on the Atlantic 
coast has become much restricted of late years. Form'erly it bred 
north, commonly to New Jersey (Giraud), and rarely to Sable Island 
(eggs in United States National Museum), Yarmouth (Bryant), 
and Halifax (Brewer), Nova Scotia. It still breeds rather commonly 
on the islands off the coast of Virginia (Dutcher), and a few may 
breed in extreme southern New Jersey, but probably at present no 
willets breed between there and Nova Scotia, where in 1903 it was 
reported abundant at Barrington (Trotter). It breeds along the 
south Atlantic coast to Florida (Scott), in Louisiana (Bent), and 
throughout the Bahamas (Bonhote). 

Winter range. — On the Pacific coast it migrates in winter to Santa 
Lucia, southern Peru (Taczanowski), and on the Atlantic coast 
to the Amazon River (Pelzeln). It occurs also in winter in northern 
South America (Quelch), the Lesser and the Greater Antilles, the 
Bahamas (Bonhote), Florida (Worthington), and casually in South 
Carolina (Hoxie). 

Spring migration. — The willet starts north in March. Some dates 
of spring arrival are> Hog Island, Virginia, average April 12, earliest 
April 7, 1888 (Doughty); southern New Jersey, average April 19, 
earliest April 6, 1877 (Scott); Erie, Pa., April 24, 1902 (Todd). The 
species has been recorded in migration to Newfoundland (Reeks), 
but it is not known to breed on that island. 

Eggs have been taken in the Bahamas from May 15 (Cory) to 
July 6 (Allen); Sapelo Island, Georgia, April 22, 1888 (specimens in 



62 NOBTH AMERICAN? SHOEEBIfiDS. 

United States National Museum) ; Beaufort, N. C, May 8 (specimens 
in United States National Museum); Cobbs Maud, Vrrgmia^ May 
25, 1875 (Baily); Warner House, N. J., May 19, 1884 (Bellows); 
Madison, Conn., June 5, 1873 (Merriam); and on Sable Maud in 
June (specimens in United States National Museum). 

FaU migration. — ^A gimner who shot for the market near Newport, 
E. I., obtained 106 willets duriag eight seasons, 1867-1874, on dates 
rangmg from July 11, 1871, to September 19, 1869 (Stnrtevant). 
One bird was seen July 2, 1902, at Sakonnet, R. I. (Kjng). The 
average date of arrival of late years on Long Mand, New York, has 
been August 13, earhest August 4, 1901 (Scott). The last was seen 
at Plymouth, Mass., October 4, 1852 (Browne); Long Maud, New 
York, September 24, 1905 (Latham) ; southern New Jersey, average 
September 9, latest October 17, 1885 (Crane); H(^ Mand, Virginia, 
November 1, 1886, and October 27, 1887 (Doughty). 

Western Willet. Ca^ptropTiorus semipabnaius imomaius (Keif^). 

Breeding raiige. — The western willet breeds not unconunonly on the 
coast of Texas (Merrill), and from northern Iowa (Beny), southern 
South Dakota (Cheney), and northern Calif omia (Beckwlth; Christie), 
north to the southern portions of Manitoba (Thompson), Saskatchewan 
(Ferry), Alberta (Macoun), and to Central Or^on (Bendire). 

Winter range. — The western willet winteis on the coasts of Loui- 
siana (Beyer) and Texas (Sennett) and on the coast of California 
north to Humboldt Bay (Townsend). In winter it ranges south into 
Mexico (Nelson) and probably to southern Guatemala (Salvin). It 
also passes eastward and winters on the Ghilf coast of Florida (Scott). 

Spring migration. — Dates of spring arrival are: Stotesbury, Mo., 
April 8, 1894 (Surber); Keokuk, Iowa, April 30, 1892 (Currier); 
Lanesboro, ^linn., April 26, 1879 (Hvoslef); central Kansas, average 
April 30, earhest April 28, 1883 (Lantz); northern Nebraska, earh^ 
May 5, 1893 (Bates); northern Xorth Dakota, average May 3, earliest 
May 1, 1901 (Eastgate); Indian Head, Saskatchewan, May 6, 1892 
CMacoun); northern Colorado, average May 1, earhest April 27, 

1887 (Smith); Cheyenne, Wyo., average May 4, earhest April 30, 

1888 (Bond); Salt Lake Qty, Utah, April 28, 1897 (Young); Lewis- 
ton, Mont., May 2, 1903 (Silloway); Red Deer, Alberta, May 12, 1892 
(Fariey); HaUeck, Xev., May 5, 1871 (specimen in United States 
National Museum); Fort Klamath, Oreg., April 22, 1887 (Merrill). 

Eggs have been taken at Corpus Cliristi, Tex., May 17, 1882 ((5o^); 
near Turtle Mountain^ Manitoba, May 23, 1883 (Thompson); Oneida 
County, Idaho, May 21, 1879 (Anderson); near Beckwith, Calif., 
May 28, 1891 (Christie) : Camp Hamey, Oreg., May 8, 1878 (Bendire); 
southern Saskatchewan, June 14, 1906 (Bent). Thus the nesting 
season is about the same throughout the whole breeding range. 



WANDERING TATTLER. 63 

Fall migration, — In fall the western willet wanders eastward far 
beyond the breeding range, even to the Atlantic coast, as shown by 
the following records: Chicago, 111., September 2, 1906 (Armstong 
and Lawson) ; Miller, Ind., August 14, 1897 (Woodruff) ; Oberlin, Ohio, 
September 17, 1906 (Jones); Toronto, Ontario, July 20, 1898 (Flem- 
ing); Stony Creek, Conn., August 15, 1897 (Bishop); Keokuk, Iowa, 
October 27, 1896 (Currier). A wanderer far north of the breeding 
range was taken at Victoria, British Columbia, August 18, 1898 
(Fannin). 

Wandering Tattler. Heteractitis incanus (Gmel.). 

The first information of the breeding range of the wandering 
tattler was obtained in 1904 by one of the parties of the Biological 
Survey. A downy young was shot September 5 on Macmillan River 
in east central Yukon (Osgood). July 28, 1906, a pair were seen by 
Charles Sheldon near Mount McKinle}^, south central Alaska, under 
conditions that left no doubt that they were breeding in the imme- 
diate vicinity. It is not probable that the species breeds anywhere 
south of Alaska, and yet it occurs in the Hawaiian Islands every 
month of the year (Henshaw) ; on the coast of California every 
month fTom March to October (Bryant), and has been taken July 2, 
1900, on the island of Guam, and July 17, 1904, on the Philippine 
Islands (specimens in the United States National Museum). The 
species ranges north to Nulato, Alaska (Dall), where it is said by the 
natives to breed, and occurs about as far north on the Asiatic side 
of Bering Sea to Plover Bay (Bean), where it was taken in fall migra- 
tion. 

The wandering tattler winters in southern California, the Galapagos 
(Sharpe), the Hawaiian Islands (Henshaw), and throughout Oceania 
to the New Hebrides. In migration it occurs on the Commander 
Islands, along the whole western coast of North America from Mexico 
to Alaska, and has occurred inland, accidentally at Crater Lake, 
Greg. (Bendire), and on the eastern shore of James Bay (Bell). 

Spring migration begins in March, bringing the birds to the coast 
of California (Grinnell) by the latter part of the month. The Aleu- 
tian Islands are reached the middle of May (Nelson), and the most 
northern part of the range by the latter part of the month (Dall). 

On the coast of central Cahfornia, nearly 2,000 miles south of the 
breeding grounds, the first fall migrants appear with great regularity 
within a few days of the middle of July, and are common a few days 
later (Loomis). At about the same time the birds return from the 
interior of Alaska to the coast, and are common around Bering Sea 
for the next two months (Nelson). The last leave the northern part 
of the range about the middle of September (Nelson) and desert the 
Aleutians a month later (Bishop). 



64 NOKTH AMERICAN SHOREBIEDS. 

Kuff. Machetes pugnax ( Linn . ) . 

Though an Old World species, the ruff has been taken many 
times in the Western Hemisphere at widely separated localities as 
follows: One at Xanortalik, on the southwest coast of Greenland, 
(Fenckers); Toronto, Ontario, spring of 1882 (Seton); English Lake, 
Ind., April 12, 1905 (Deane) ; a specimen in the Ohio State Uni- 
versity collection bears the label, ^'Northern Canada, April 28, 
1877" (Dawson); Licking Reservoir, Ohio, November 10, 1872 
(Wheaton); Columbus, Ohio, April 28, 1878 (Jones); Grand Manan, 
New Bruns^vick, no date (Boardman); Cole Harbor, near Halifax, 
Nova Scotia, May 27, 1892 (Brewster); Upton, Me., September 8, 
1874 (Brewster); Scarborough, Me., April 10, 1870 (Smith); Cam- 
den, Me., September 14, 1900 (Thayer); Seabrook, N. H., Septem- 
ber 24, 1907 (Hardy); Newburyport, Mass., May 20, 1871 (Brew- 
ster); Chatham, Mass., September 12, 1880 (Grinnell); Nantucket, 
Mass., July, 1901 (Palmer); near Sakonnet Point, Rhode Island, 
July 30, 1900 (Hathaway); Point Judith, Rhode Island, August 31, 
1903 (King); Long Island, New York, one in fall, 1845 (Lawrence), 
one in October, 1851 (Lawrence), one in May 18, 1868 (Chapman); 
another specimen seems to have been taken on Long Island, but the 
date is not recorded (DeKay) ; Barnegat, N. J., no date (Chapman); 
Four Mile Run, Va., September 3, 1894 (Palmer); Raleigh, N. C, 
May 6, 1892 (Brimley); Barbados Island, one before 1848 (Schom- 
burgk), and one in 1878 (Feilden); one in ^^ Spanish America," which 
probably means near the headwaters of the Rio Negro in northern 
South America (Pelzeln). 

It is thus seen that the ruff has been taken in this hemisphere 
at least 27 times. Seven of the specimens have no date recorded; 
9 were secured in the spring between April 10 and May 27; the other 
11 were taken in the fall from July 30 to November iO. As would 
be expected, most of the specimens are from near the Atlantic coast; 
only 5 occurred in the interior, the westernmost being the one at 
English Lake, Indiana. 

The breeding range of the ruff is from Great Britain to central 
Siberia and north to the Arctic coast. The bird winters in Burma, 
India, and to the southern part of Africa. It has wandered east in 
Asia to Japan and the Commander Islands, but has not yet been de- 
tected on the western coast of America; 

Upland Plover. Bartramia longicauda (Bechst.). 

Breeding range. — The upland or field plover, sometimes called the 
Bartramian sandpiper, is one of the few shorebirds that nest commonly 
in the Mississippi Valley. Early in the settlement of this region, 
much more than half the upland plovers probably nested within 
the boundaries of the United States. The center of abundance during 
the breeding season was the prairie region from Kansas to Manitoba. 



Bui. 35, Biological Survey, U. S Dept. of Agriculture. 



Plate II. 




Upland Plover (Bartramia longicauda). 



UPLAND PLOVER. 65 

The numbers were not greatly diminished so long as this region was 
used for stock purposes, but recently the birds have rapidly decreased. 
At the present time the species breeds south to southern Oregon 
(Merrill); northern Utah (Ridgway); northern Colorado (Rockwell), 
central Oklahoma (Merrill), southern Missouri (Prior), southern 
Indiana (Butler), northern Virginia (Grinnan) and central Maryland 
(Miller). The summer range extends north to southern Maine 
(Norton), southern Ontario (Renfrew; Clarke), and southern Michi- 
gan (Wood). Then it bends far to the northward through central 
Wisconsin (Kumlien and Hollister) to central Keewatin (Cape Eskimo ; 
Preble), southern Mackenzie (Fort Smith; Preble), northern Yukon 
(M'Dougall), and to the Kowak River in northwestern Alaska 
(Townsend). Stragglers are not uncommon in the Maritime Prov- 
inces and have occurred in Newfoundland (Reeks) and to Godbout, 
Quebec (Merriam) . The species is not common east of Michigan nor 
west of the Rock}^ Mountains. 

Winter range. — The principal winter home is in Argentina (Sclater 
and Hudson) and probably no upland plovers occur at this season 
north of the pampas of South America. 

Migration range. — In fall this species passes through the Greater 
and the Lesser Antilles (Feilden), but in the Bahamas (Cory), 
Jamaica (March), and Porto Rico (Gundlach), it is so much rarer than 
farther east as to indicate that some individuals reach the Lesser 
Antilles by direct flight across the ocean. It migrates also through 
the Gulf States and west to Sulphur Spring, Ariz. (Henshaw), west- 
ern Mexico (Durango; Nelson), and locally in Central America and 
the northern parts of South America. 

There seem to be no spring records of migration in the West Indies 
east of Cuba, indicating that the individuals that go south through 
the Lesser Antilles return by way of Central America. Nor in spring 
migration is the species recorded west of central Mexico or west of the 
Rocky Mountains south of Utah. The only record for California is 
the single bird taken by Vernon Bailey of the Biological Survey at 
Tule Lake, August 8, 1896. 

Spring migration. — The upland plover arrives in Louisiana on the 
average earlier than in either Florida or Texas. This would seem 
to prove that it reaches Louisiana by direct flight across the gulf. 
The average date of arrival in southern Louisiana is March 14, 
while the date of arrival at the same latitude in Texas is March 28, 
and in Florida is early April. The earliest dates are: Bonham, Tex., 
March 5, 1887 (Peters); New Orleans, La., March 9, 1895 (Beyer); 
and Tallahassee, Fla., March 25, 1901 (WiUiams). Other dates of 
arrival on the Atlantic slope are: Raleigh, N. C, average April 7, 
earliest March 28, 1896 (Brimley); Washington, D. C, March 21, 
1896 (Richmond); Holland Patent, N. Y., average April 20, earliest 
36595°— Bull. 35—12 5 



66 NOETH AMEKICAN SHOKEBIKDS. 

April 14, 1896 (Williams); central Connecticut, average April 29, 
earliest April 16, 1896 (Jennings) ; southern New Hampshire, average 
April 30, earliest April 22, 1900 (Dearborn); Plymouth, Me., average 
May 3, earliest April 25, 1878 (Thorne); central Vermont, average 
May 5, earliest April 30, 1887 (Goodwin); Godbout, Quebec, May 7, 
1885 (Merriam). 

Migration in the Mississippi Valley begins earlier than on the 
Atlantic coast and is earlier for corresponding latitudes all the way 
north to the Canadian boundary, as shown by the following dates of 
arrival: Odin, 111., average April 4, earliest March 30, 1895 (Vander- 
cock); Tampico, 111., average April 11, earliest April 9, 1890 (Brown); 
Chicago, 111., average April 16, earliest April 10, 1896 (Gault) ; Oberlin, 
Ohio, average April 14, earliest March 22, 1904 (Jones); southern 
Michigan, average April 20, earliest April 8, 1895 (Alexander) ; central 
Iowa, average April 15, earliest April 3, 1893 (Ross); southern Wis- 
consin, average April 18, earliest April 10, 1853 (Stiles); Heron Lake, 
Minnesota, average April 24, earliest April 20, 1890 (Miller); Man- 
hattan, Kans., average April 14, earliest April 4, 1882 (Lantz) 
Onaga, Kans., average April 14, earliest April 7, 1893 (Crevecoeur) 
southern Nebraska, average April 17, earliest April 6, 1890 (Wilson) 
northern Nebraska, average April 18, earliest April 7, 1903 (Colt) 
central South Dakota, average April 23, earliest April 19, 1886 
(Cheney); Argusville, N. Dak., average May 5, earliest April 26, 1894 
(Edwards) ; Larimore, N. Dak., average May 5, earliest April 26, 1888 
(Eastgate); Aweme, Manitoba, average May 3, earliest April 26, 1899 
(Criddle); Lake Como, Wyoming, May 5, 1879 (Williston); Eathdrum, 
Idaho, average May 12, earliest April 27, 1901 (Danby); Columbia 
Falls, Mont., average May 12, earliest April 27, 1894 (WiUiams); 
Edmonton, Alberta, May 12, 1903 (Preble); Red Deer, Alberta, May 
13, 1892, May 11, 1893 (Farley); 150-mile House, British Columbia, 
May 16, 1901 (Brooks). 

In the winter home in Argentina the northern movement begins in 
February, and most birds are gone by the end of March; a few strag- 
glers remain to April (Sclater and Pludson). The species passes 
through Peru in March and April (Sclater and Salvin) ; the last was 
seen at Piedra Blanca, Bolivia, April 23 (Allen) ; at Tonantins, Brazil, 
May 7, 1884 (Berlepsch); Cabanas, Cuba, May 22, 1900 (Palmer and 
Riley) ; Teopisca, Chiapas, May 7, 1904 (Goldman) ; and New Orleans, 
La., May 19, 1894 (Allison). 

Eggs have been secured at Lawrenceville, N. J., May 18, 1889 
(Phillips); Holland Patent, N. Y., May 21, 1886 (Wilhams); Marthas 
Vineyard, Mass., May 25, 1900 (Durfee); Cornwall, Vt., May 26, 1889 
(Parkhill); Philo, 111., May 4, 1900 (Hess); Winnebago, 111., May 10, 
1864 (Tolman); near Dubuque, Iowa, May 14, 1865 (Blackburn); 
Beatrice, Nebr., May 16, 1895 (Pearse); near Bryant, S. Dak., May 
26, 1895 (Lee); Lewistown, Mont., May 25, 1904 (Silloway); Car- 



BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER. 67 

berr}^, Manitoba, May 30, 1886 (Seton); southwestern Saskatchewan, 
May 29, 1905 (Bent). 

Fall migration. — Birds were observed at Lipscomb, Tex., July 10, 
1903 (Howell), and as they do not breed in that' locality, these were 
southbound migrants. Observers easily detect the call notes of the 
upland plover as it passes overhead in the darkness, and these 
calls are usually the first signs of the fall migration. The earliest 
notes in 1895 at Baltimore, Md., were heard July 3, 1895 (Kirkwood) ; 
at Washington, D. C, the first calls have been heard usually between 
July 10 and July 16, while in 1896 the birds were seen July 7 (Rich- 
mond). The average date of arrival insouthernLouisianais July 23, 
earliest July 9, 1895 (Blakemore) ; Gainesville, Tex., July 13, 1885 
(Ragsdale); Fort Lyon, Colo., July 12, 1886 (Thorne) ; Sulphur 
Springs, Ariz., August 18, 1874 (Henshaw) ; Chapala, Jalisco, August 
27 (Richardson); San Jose, Costa Rica, September 5, 1890 (Cherrie) ; 
Barbados, West Indies, August 12, 1886 (Manning); Cienega, Colom- 
bia, September 15, 1898 (Allen). In September they first appear on 
their passage through Peru (Sclater and Salvin) , and are noted as arriv- 
ing at their winter home in Argentina (Sclater and Hudson). The 
last one was seen September 6, 1903, at Big Sandy, Mont. (Coubeaux) ; 
at Fort Lyon, Colo., September 2, 1886 (Thorne) ; near Cape Eskimo, 
Keewatin, August 13, 1900 (Preble); Aweme, Manitoba, average 
September 6, latest September 28, 1897 (Criddle) ; Onaga, Kans., aver- 
age September 14, latest October 15, 1896 (Crevecoeur) ; southern Iowa, 
average September 20, latest September 30, 1896 (Savage); Livonia, 
Mich., September 18, 1891 (Alexander); Detroit, Mich., October 20, 

1902 (Swales); Chicago, 111., average September 6, latest September 
22, 1906 (Armstrong and Lawson); Lexington, Ky., October 11, 

1903 (Dean); New Orleans, La., October 7, 1896 (Kopman); North 
River, Prince Edward Island, August 25, 1887 (Bain) ; Pittsfield, Me., 
September 22, 1895 (Morrell); Taunton, Mass., September 19, 1889 
(Scudder); Germantown, Pa., October 2, 1887 (Stone); Key West, 
Fla., October 3, 1888 (Scott); near Atlanta, Ga., November 27, 1903 
(Smith); Escondido, Nicaragua, November 26, 1892 (Richmond); 
San Jose, Costa Rica, November 15, 1889 (Cherrie); Davila, Panama, 
November 30, 1900 (Bangs). 

Buflf-breasted Sandpiper. Tryngites suhruficollis (Vieill.). 

Summer range.- — The buff-breasted sandpiper is known to breed 
from Point Barrow, Alaska (Murdoch), to near Franklin Bay, Mac- 
kenzie (MacFarlane). It was taken in June at Repulse Bay (Rae), 
and undoubtedly breeds along the whole Arctic coast east to Hudson 
Bay. Not quite so certain is the breeding of the bird on the coast 
of northeastern Siberia. It was found to be quite common there 
near Koliuchin Bay, August 1, 1881 (Nelson), and had probably bred 
there, but no nests or young were found, and the individuals seen 
mav have been early fall wanderers from Alaskan breeding grounds. 



68 NOETH AMERICAN SHOKEBIEDS. 

Winter range. — It winters in Argentina and Uruguay, south at 
least to Buenos Aires (Durnford) and Montevideo (Gould). 

Migration range. — Many thousand miles separate the summer and 
winter homes of the species, and the migration route between these 
widely separated regions seems to be somewhat different from that 
of any other species. The main body of migrants follows the Barren 
Grounds to the shores of Hudson Bay, thence almost due south across 
the Mississippi Valley to the coast of Texas and through Central 
America to northwestern South America and diagonally across the 
interior of South America to Argentina. 

The buff-breasted sandpiper is a rare fall migrant on the Atlantic 
coast: Henley Harbor, Labrador, August 20, 1860 (Coues); Port 
Burwell, Ungava, September 28, 1884 (Bell); Quebec, three records, 
August 28 (Merriam) to September (Trowbridge); Cape Elizabeth, 
Me., September 13, 1887 (Knight); Scarboro, Me., September 5, 1907 
(Norton) ; several records on the coast of New England and on Long 
Island, the latest of which is September 11, 1904, on Long Island 
(Braislin). South of Long Island there are no recent records, and 
most of the older ones are open to suspicion. The species was seen 
once in April in Cuba (Gundlach), twice in the fall on Barbados 
(Feilden), and a record for the island of Trinidad (Leotaud) is some- 
what doubtful. It is practically unknown in spring on the Atlantic 
coast of the United States. It has been taken at Barr Lake, Colo. 
(Hersey), and on the Pacific coast has been taken at Cape Flattery, 
Wash. (Newberry) ; in southern British Columbia (Brooks) ; Sitka 
(Bischoff), St. jVIichael (Nelson), and Nulato (Dall and Bannister), 
Alaska. 

Spring migration. — Migrants appear in the interior of Brazil 
(Pelzeln) and in Peru (Sclater and Salvin) during March, but there 
are no spring migration data for the whole distance between Peru 
and Texas. In the State of Texas the species was noted April 22, 
1887, in Refugio County (Sennett), and April 23, 1877, at Gainesville 
(Ragsdale). The first were seen at Fort Chipewyan, May 24, 1901 
(Preble); Fort Simpson, May 29, 1860 (Ross); Yukon delta, May 30, 
1879 (Nelson); St. Michael, May 31, 1880 (Nelson); Point Barrow, 
June 8, 1882 (Murdoch), and June 6, 1883 (Murdoch). 

Eggs were taken on the Barren Grounds near Franklin Bay, June 
26, 1864, and June 28, 1865 (MacFarlane) ; and at Point Barrow, 
June 18, 1883 (Murdoch). 

Fall migration. — The fall migration of this species and of most 
other waders begins in July, and so rapidly do the birds move south 
that they have been noted the last of this month in Nebraska (Bruner, 
Wolcott, and Swenk); Gainesville, Tex., August 4, 1883 (Ragsdale); 
San Jose, Costa Rica, September 7, 1890 (Cherrie); and Cienega, 
Colombia, September 12, 1898 (Allen). The southern part of the 



Bui. 35, Biological Survey, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 



Plate III. 



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SPOTTED SANDPIPER. 69 

winter range in Argentina is reached early in October (Sclater and 
Hudson). A very early migrant was taken August 3, at Pebas, 
Peru (Sliarpe). Usually the species is rare east of the Mississippi 
River, but several flocks were seen August 16-18, 1874, at Maywood, 
111., near Chicago (Fisher). 

Spotted Sandpiper. Actitis macularia (Linn.). 

Breeding range. — Few shorebirds have so extended a breeding 
range as the spotted sandpiper. It nests north to Newfoundland 
(Reeks), the northernmost part of Ungava (Turner), northern 
Mackenzie (Fort Anderson; MacFarlane), northern Alaska at Fort 
Yukon (Lockhart), and to the Kowak Valley in northwestern Alaska 
(Townsend). It breeds south to northern South Carolina (Chester 
County; Loomis), central Alabama (Greensboro; Avery), southern 
Louisiana (New Orleans; Beyer), central Texas (Lacey), southern 
New Mexico (Carlisle; Barrell), central Arizona (San Francisco 
Mountains; Mearns), and the southern Sierra of California (Walker 
Pass; Kaeding), and probably on the Colorado River near Needles 
(Hollister). 

Winter range. — The spotted sandpiper ranges south in winter to 
central Peru (La Merced; Berlepsch and Stolzmann), central Bolivia 
(San Francisco; Salvadori), and to southern Brazil (Sao Paulo; 
Ihering). It is not rare in northern South America, and is tolerably 
common in Central America and Mexico; a few winter in the West 
Indies, and a small number in the eastern United States to the coast 
of Georgia (Helme) and to Port Royal, S. C. (Eaton), and in the 
western United States to southern Arizona (Dwight) and southern 
California (Grinnell). 

Spring migration. — The spotted sandpiper passes north about the 
middle of the migration season, as shown by the following dates of 
arrival: Northern Florida, average March 19 (Pleas); Raleigh, N. C, 
average April 10, earliest April 3, 1893 (Brimley); near Asheville, 
N. C, average April 13, earliest April 10, 1891 (Cairns); Washington, 
D. C, average April 22, earliest April 2, 1905 (McAtee) ; near Waynes- 
burg, Pa., average April 13, earliest April 6, 1893 (Jacobs) ; Beaver, 
Pa., average April 20, earliest April 2, 1888 (Todd); Renovo, Pa., 
average April 18, earliest April 9, 1904 (Pierce) ; Erie, Pa., earliest 
April 18, 1900 (Todd) ; near New York City, average April 26, earliest 
April 15, 1891 (Burhaus); central Connecticut, average April 25, 
earliest April 20, 1901 (Case) ; near Providence, R. I., average May 2, 
earliest April 21, 1905 (Mason); eastern Massachusetts, average 
April 28, earliest April 15, 1893 (Metcalf); Randolph, Vt., average 
May 5, earliest April 28, 1891 (Paine); southern New Hampshire, 
average May 4, earliest April 28, 1905 (Perkins) ; southwestern Maine, 
average May 1, earliest April 14, 1904 (Norton); Montreal, Canada, 
average May 13, earliest April 26, 1890 (Wintle) ; central New Bruns- 
wick, average May 11, earliest May 5, 1906 (Mcintosh); Pictou, 



70 NOETH AMERICAN SHOEEBIEDS. 

Xova Scotia, average May 7. earliest May 3, 1895 (Hickman); North 
River, Prince Edward Island, average May 14, earliest May 11, 
1890 (Bain). The earliest date of arrival at New Orleans, La., is 
March 19, 1904 (Kopman); Athens, Tenn., average April 14, earliest 
April 10, 1906 (Gettys); Russeliville, Ky., April 9, 1906 (Embody) 
Brookville, Ind., average April 20, earliest April 14, 1883 (Butler) 
Waterloo, Ind., average April 27, earliest April 5, 1895 (Hine) 
Chicago, 111., average April 30, earliest April 19, 1896 (Gault); Ober- 
lin, Ohio, average April 16, earliest April 9, 1904 (Jones); Petersburg, 
Mich., average April 22, earliest April 15, 1887 (Trombly); southern 
Ontario, average April 23, earliest April 13, 1896 (Taverner) ; Ottawa, 
Ontario, average April 30, earliest April 24, 1897 (White); southern 
Wisconsin, average April 27, earliest April 23, 1897 (Russell); Lanes- 
boro, Minn., average April 28, earliest April 18, 1886 (Hvoslef); 
Onaga, Kans., average May 5, earliest April 26, 1896 (Crevecoeur) ; 
Aweme, Manitoba, average May 8, earliest May 2, 1905 (Griddle); 
Columbia Falls, Mont., average May 7, earliest May 4, 1896 
(WilHams); Chilliwack, British Columbia, May 9, 1889 (Brooks); 
Athabaska Landing, Alberta, May 6, 1901 (Preble); Fort Chipewyan, 
Alberta, May 23, 1893 (Russell) ; near Fort Providence, Mackenzie, 
May 17, 1904 (:\Iills) ; Fort Simpson, Mackenzie, May 19, 1904 
(Preble) ; Dawson, Yukon, May 24, 1899 (Cantwell) ; Kowak Valley, 
Alaska, May 22, 1899 (Grinnell). The species has been seen south 
of its breeding grounds as late as May in Brazil (Pelzeln), and to the 
latter part of June on the northern coast of Venezuela (Robinson) . 
The species regularly remains in Cuba (Gundlach) and the Bahamas 
to early May (Bonhote) and in Mexico to the latter part of the month 
(Sharpe). The average date of the last seen in northern Florida is 
May 12, and the latest May 18, 1904 (Pleas). 

The date of the laying of the eggs varies but little over the whole 
extent of the breeding range, as shown by the following dates when 
the earliest eggs were found: Near Richmond, Va., May 22, 1881 
(Robinson); Erie, Pa., May 24, 1893 (Todd); Lawrence ville, N. J., 
May 27, 1889 (PhHlips) ; Trenton Falls, N. Y., May 19, 1892 (Wil- 
liams); Canaan, Conn., May 16, 1887 (Tobey); Fall River, Mass., 
May 14, 1887 (Durfee) ; Orono, Me., May 24, 1894 (Knight) ; Montreal, 
Canada, June 8, 1890 (Wintle) ; Dunnville, Ontario, May 17, 1884 
(McCallum) ; Big Charity Island, Micliigan, May 20, 1903 (Arnold) ; 
Cheyenne, Wyo., May 30, 1889 (Bond); Fort Lapwai, Idaho, May 
29, 1871 (Bendire); Fort Resolution, Mackenzie, May 23, 1860 
(Kennicott) ; Fort Anderson, Mackenzie, June 9, 1862 (MacFarlane) ; 
Fort Yukon, Alaska, June 15, 1862. 

Fall raigration. — The individual taken on Barbados, West Indies, 
July 4. 1888 (Feilden), may have been a nonbreeding summer resi- 
dent, or an early fall migrant, but by the end of July migrants have 



LONG-BILLED CURLEW. 71 

appeared in the Lesser Antilles, on the coast of Venezuela (Hartert), 
and in Mexico (Brown) ; indeed, in 1892 a specimen was taken in 
northern Lower California the first day of July (Mearns). 

The last seen at Chilliwack, British Columbia, was October 9, 
1888 (Brooks) ; average of the last seen at Columbia Falls, Mont., 
September 19, latest September 22, 1895 (Williams); Aweme, Mani- 
toba, average September 5, latest September 11, 1903 (Criddle) ; 
Lincoln, Nebr., September 29, 1900 (Wolcott) ; Lawrence, Kans., 
October 14, 1905 (Wetmore) ; Lanesboro, Minn., November 2, 1886 
(Hvoslef) ; Ottawa, Ontario, average September 18, latest October 28, 
1902 (White) ; southern Ontario, average September 30, latest October 
25, 1902 (Saunders); Oberlin, Ohio, average September 20, latest 
October 30, 1905 (Jones); Scotch Lake, New Brunswick, October 5, 
1901 (Moore); southwestern Maine, average October 1, latest October 
6, 1900 (Johnson); eastern Massachusetts, average October 7, latest 
November 14 (Townsend) ; Hartford, Conn., average October 8, latest 
October 12, 1902 (Case); Ossining, N. Y., October 23 (Fisher); 
Washington, D. C, October 28, 1906 (Fisher); near New Orleans, 
La., latest November 5, 1902, November 10, 1903 (Allison). 

Long-billed Curlew. Numenius americanus Bechstein. 
Breeding range.— The principal summer home of the long-billed 
curlew is in the interior of the United States on the northern half of 
the plains. Southward it has been known to breed to Oklahoma 
(Camp Supply; Wilcox), northwestern Texas (McCauley), central 
New Mexico (Los Finos; Woodhouse), southern Arizona (Sulphur 
Spring; Henshaw), and northwestern California in the Pit River 
region (Grinnell). To the northward it breeds to central British 
Columbia (150-mile House; Brooks), southern Alberta (Bow River; 
Macoun), southern Saskatchewan (Medicine Hat; Macoun), and 
southern Manitoba (Seton). The long-billed curlew was formerly 
common in the eastern part of the Mississippi Valley and abundant 
on the Atlantic coast, but of late years the numbers have been so 
reduced that now it is merely casual or accidental east of the Missis- 
sippi. There are records of the former breeding of the species in 
northern Iowa (Preston), Wisconsin (Hoy), southern Michigan 
(Jackson; Davis), and northern Illinois (Ridgway). The species 
was an abundant migrant on the southern Atlantic coast and less 
common north to Newfoundland (Reeks), and there are various sur- 
mises that it bred at various places, such as the west coast of Florida 
(Scott), coast of New Jersey (Wilson), and Prince Edward Island 
(Boardman), but most if not all of these breeding records were based 
on the presence of the birds in July, and there seems to be no authentic 
record of eggs anywhere east of Michigan. 

Winter range. — The species winters on the Atlantic coast from 
South Carolina (Nuttall) to Florida (Allen) ; on the coast of Louisiana 
(Beyer) and Texas (Merrill) ; in southern Arizona (specimen in United 



72 NORTH AMERICAN SHOEEBIEDS. 

States National Museum) : and in California north to Owen Lake 
(Fisher) and San Francisco (Xewberry) . It also ranges south through 
Mexico to the Pacific coast of Guatemala at Chiapam (Salvin). It 
is a casual wanderer in the West Indies; Cuba, Jime, July, October 
(Gundlach); Jamaica, July, 1863 C\Iarch); St. Vincent, once in the 
faU (Lawrence). 

Spring irdgration. — ^TThen the long-billed curlew was common on 
the Atlantic coast, it was seldom seen in spring north of the Carolinas; 
the few individuals that passed up the New England coast usually 
appeared in May: Hail Point, Maryland, May 23, 1893 (Kirkwood); 
Scarboro, Me., May 2, 1866 (Ejiight). ]\Iigration in the ]\Iississippi 
Valley begins in March: Eagle Pass, March 5, 1885 (Xegley); Pecos 
City, March 9, 1906 (Ligon); Gainesville, March 4, 1876 (Ragsdale)— 
all in Texas; Warrensbiu'g, Mo., April 1, 1874 (Scott); Appleton City, 
Mo.; April 3, 1906 (Prier); central Ilhnois, average April 9; Jasper, 
Ind., April 2, 1896 (Butler); central Iowa, average April 11, earhest 
April 3, 1883 (Lindley); northern Nebraska, average April 3, earhest 
March 28, 1889 (Bates) ; Vermihon, S. Dak., April 5 ,1884 (Agersborg) ; 
central North Dakota, average April 15, earhest April 8, 1886 (Ed- 
wards); Aweme, Manitoba, average April 22, earhest April 9, 1902 
(Criddle); Apache, N. Mex., March 25, 1886 (Anthony); Utah Lake, 
Utah, March 30, 1899 (Johnson) ; northern Colorado, average April 14, 
earhest April 10, 1889 (Smith); Cheyenne, TTyo., average April 18, 
earhest April 15, 1889 (Bond); Terry, Mont., average April 16, earhest 
April 7, 1906 (Cameron); Big Sandy, Mont., average April 19, earhest 
April 13, 1903 (Coubeaux); Fort "^Ellamath, Oreg., March 28, 1887 
(Merrih) : Chelan, Wash., April 6, 1896 (Dawson) ; Okanagan Landing, 
British Coliunbia, April 12, 1906 (Brooks). 

Eggs have been taken at Camp Harney, Oregon, April 30, 1876 
(Bendire); Fort Klamath, Oreg., May 7, 1878 (Meams); Lewistown, 
Mont., May 13, 1902 (SiUoway): Fort Lapwai, Idaho, May 21, 1871 
(Bendire); Cody, Nebr., young just hatched June 23, 1895 (Trostler); 
southern Saskatchewan, downy young June 1, 1905 (Bent); June 11 
and 18, 1906 (Bent). 

FaU migration. — Flocks of faU migrants used to appear on the 
Atlantic coast about the middle of July (Mearns) and reach South 
Carolina by early August (Hoxie). They returned to Monterey Bay, 
Cahfornia, July 17, 1894 (Loomis), and arrived at Cape St. Lucas, 
Lower Cahfornia, September 15, 1859 (Xantus). The last one seen 
at Montreal in 1893 was observed September 21 (Wintle), and on the 
coast of Massachusetts the species has been noted to October 18 
(Howe and Allen) . 

Kudsonian Curlew. Numenius hudsonicus Lath. 

Breeding range. — The Hudsonian curlew, or jack curlew as it is 
cahed by sportsmen, is known to breed on the barren grounds of 
northern ^lackenzie (MacFarlane) and on the western coast of 



HUDSONIAN CURLEW. 73 

Alaska from the mouth of the Yukon (Nelson) north to Kotzebue 
Sound (Grinnell). 

Winter range. — The principal winter home is on the Pacific coast, 
where the species ranges from Ecuador (Salvadori and Festa) to 
southern Chile (Chiloe Island; Pelzeln), and is especially abundant 
toward the southern limit of the range. At this season it occurs also 
on the coasts of Honduras (Taylor) and Guatemala (Salvin) and 
north to the southern portion of Lower California (Belding). On 
the Atlantic coast it occurs during the winter from British Guiana 
(Quelch) to the mouth of the Amazon (Sharpe). 

Migration range. — The species probably does not breed in Green- 
land, but it has been taken several times on the western coast as far 
north as Jacobshaven, latitude 69° N. (Winge). It migrates east to 
Ungava (Turner) and Newfoundland (Keeks), and passes down the 
Atlantic coast and through the Lesser Antilles to its winter home; 
but it is almost unknown in the Greater Antilles and in Central 
America and northwestern South America from Nicaragua to Vene- 
zuela. It is a common migrant and a probable breeder along the 
v/estern shore of Hudson Bay (Preble), but since it is unknown in 
Saskatchewan and Manitoba it is evident that these Hudson Bay 
birds turn southeastward and probably reach the New England 
coast; for the bird is more common on the Massachusetts coast than 
would be expected from the few individuals that occur in Labrador. 
The species is scarcely recorded in the whole Rocky Mountain district 
between central Nebraska and eastern California, and it is a rare 
migrant in the Mississippi Valley, though a few use this route in both 
migrations. The main migration route is along the Pacific coast, 
and it occurs here west to St. Paul Island, Alaska (Palmer). 

Spring migration. — Records of arrival in the eastern United States 
are: Sarasota Ba}^, Florida, March 22, 1872 (Moore); Port Royal, 
S. C, April 14 (Mackay); Cobbs Island, Virginia, May 19, 1891 (Kirk- 
wood) ; Cape May, N. J., April 12, 1907, "ten days ahead of the usual 
time" (Hand); Shelter Island, N. Y., May 9, 1887 (Worthington) ; 
Nantucket, Mass., April 10, 1891 (Mackay); but usually not in 
Massachusetts before the middle of May. By what route these birds 
reach the eastern United States coast is as yet unknown, for there 
are no corresponding records in either the Lesser or the Greater 
Antilles. 

The main migratory flocks reach the coast of southern California 
the middle of March (Grinnell) and proceeding slowly northward have 
been noted at Fort Kenai, Alaska, May 18, 1869 (Bischoff); Nulato, 
Alaska, May 12, 1866 (Pease); Kowak Valley, Alaska, May 17, 1899 
(Grinnell) ; Fort Anderson, Mackenzie, May 29, 1865 (MacFarlane). 

Eggs were taken on the barren grounds west of the lower Anderson 
River in late June and early July (MacFarlane), and in the Kowak 
Valley June 14-20, 1899 (Grinnell). 



74 liTOETH AMEEICAX SHOEEBIEDS. 

Fall migration. — On the western shore of Hudson Bay near York 
Factory in 1900 the species was seen July 19, and was tolerably 
common in that region nearly to the first of September (Preble) ; the 
earhest date at Toronto, Ontario, is July 4, 1904 (Fleming). The 
average date of arrival at Nantucket, Mass., is July 20, earliest July 
13 (Mackay); earUest at Long Beach, N. J., July 9, 1879 (Stone); 
Pea and Bodie Island, Xorth Carohna, July 22, 1904 (Bishop); 
Bermudas, August 14 (Reid); Barbuda, West Indies, August 12, 1877 
(Ober). Two specimens were taken July 3, 1907, at Coronado de 
Terraba, Costa Rica (Carriker), but these may have been nonbreeders 
that had not made a northern journey. 

The individuals breeding in Alaska pass south along the Pacific 
coast, and have been noted at the Farallons, Cahfornia, July 16, 1896 
(Loomis); Los Coronados Islands, Lower California, August 7, 1902 
(GrinneU and Daggett); Chimbote, Peru, August 2-5, 1883 CMacFar- 
lane); and by August 18, at Arauca, Chile (Sharpe). 

The Hudsonian curlew has been noted at St. Michael, Alaska, as 
late as September 2, 1899 (Bishop) ; Morro Bay, California, Xovember, 
1891 (Nelson) ; Great Bear Lake, August 30, 1903 (Preble) ; near Cape 
Churchill, Hudson Bay, August 24, 1900 (Preble); Henley Harbor, 
Ungava, August 27, 1860 (Coues). Near Newport, R. L, a gunner 
secured 30 birds in eight years on dates ranging from August 26, 1867, 
to October 2, 1874 (Sturtevant) . Barbuda, West Indies, November 
12, 1903 (specimen in United States National Museum). 

Eskimo Curlew. Numenius horealis (Forst.). 

Breeding range. — The principal summer home of the Eskimo curlew 
was on the barren grounds of Mackenzie, from near the Arctic coast 
(MacFarlane) south to Point Lake (Richardson). Thence a few 
ranged west as far as Point Barrow (Murdoch), but no nests seem to 
have been found west of Mackenzie. 

Winter range. — Most of the species wintered in the campos region 
of Argentina (Sclater and Hudson) and Patagonia, south at least to 
the Chubut Valley (Durnford). It has been taken once on the Falk- 
land Islands (Abbott). It was rare in Chile, south to Chiloe (Phihppi). 
At present there are no data to determine the northern limit in winter, 
but probabl}' few if any wintered much north of Buenos Aires. 

Migration route. — The curlew left the Barren Grounds in the fall 
and went southeast to Labrador (Coues), where they gorged them- 
selves for several weeks and became extremely fat. Then they 
passed across the Gulf of St. La^vrence and struck out to sea heading 
for the Lesser Antilles, nearly 2,000 miles distant. Some flocks 
stopped for a few days at the Bermudas (Jardine), but if the weather 
was fair the larger number passed on, fl}'ing both day and night, and 
did not land during the whole trip. ^Then storms interfered, the 
birds were sometimes driven out of their course and appeared in 



ESKIMO CURLEW. * 75 

considerable numbers on the coast of ^lassachusetts (Mackay) and 
less often on Long Island (Giraud) and the New Jersey coast (Turn- 
bull). The Eskimo curlew was absent, except as a straggler, from 
the whole coast of the United States south of New Jersey, from the 
Bahamas and from the Greater Antilles. In its southward flight it 
passed through the Lesser Antilles (Feilden) and along the eastern 
portion of Brazil (Pelzeln) to its winter home. Throughout the 
whole line of its fall migration it was unknown in spring, at which 
season it was traveling northward some thousands of miles farther 
west over the prairies of the Mississippi Valley. The exact route 
between its winter home and the United States is unknown, for 
along the whole 4,000 miles from Argentina to northern Mexico 
and southern Texas the species has been recorded only twice — once 
in Costa Rica (Zeledon) and once in Guatemala (Salvin). Its prin- 
cipal migration route in spring was a comparatively narrow belt 
crossing the prairies on both sides of the meridian of 97°. The course 
is well known from southern Texas (Merrill) to southern South 
Dakota (Agersborg) and thence data are wanting. There seem to be 
no records of the species from about latitude 44° in the Mississippi 
Valley until Great Slave Lake is reached, a thousand miles to the 
northward. 

This curlew is unknown in the Rocky Mountain States or any- 
where on the Pacific slope or coast south of Alaska, and the specimen 
taken April 8, 1892, at Lake Palomas, Chihuahua (specimen in 
United States National Museum), was far out of the usual course of 
the species. The species has been taken a few times in western 
Alaska, south to St. Michael (Nelson) and west to the Pribilof Islands 
(Palmer) and Bering Sea (specimen in United States National 
Museum). It has occurred accidentally several times in Europe and 
on the western coast of Greenland, north to Disco Bay (Winge). 

Spring migration. — The Eskimo curlew arrived in Texas in March — 
Boerne, March 9, 1880 (Brown); Gainesville, average March 17, 
earliest March 7, 1884 (Ragsdale); and reached central Kansas about 
the middle of April— April 14, 1884 (Kellogg); April 13, 1885 (Kel- 
logg). Most of the records in the central Mississippi Valley are in 
April. One of the latest and most northern is that of Coues, 
who says that he saw them in large flocks the second week in May, 
1873, between Fort Randall and Yankton, S. Dak. Then there is no 
further news of them until they arrived at Fort Resolution, Mac- 
kenzie, May 27, 1860 (Kennicott); Fort Anderson, May 27, 186,5 
(MacFarlane) ; Point Barrow, May 20, 1882 (Murdoch). 

Eggs were taken at Point Lake, Mackenzie, June 13, 1822 (Richard- 
son), and on the Barren Grounds near Fort Anderson, June 13, 186.S, 
June 16, 1864, and June 16, 1865 (MacFarlane). 

Fall migration. — The Eskimo curlew started so early in August 
that by the middle of the month the old birds reached the eastern 



76 NORTH AMERICAN SHOEEBIEDS. 

shores of Labrador (Coues). During the following two weeks they 
crossed the Gulf of St. Lawrence and made their long ocean flight 
and by the end of another fortnight they were at the winter home in 
Argentina (Sclater and Hudson). Dates of arrival along this course 
are: Indian Tickle Harbor, Labrador, August 16, 1860 (Coues); 
Houlton Harbor, Labrador, August 20, 1891 (Norton); Nantucket, 
Mass., average August 29, earliest August 18, 1898 (Mackay); Bar- 
bados, ^West Indies, August 27, 1886 (Manning); Amazon River, Sep- 
tember 4, 1830 (Pelzeln); Concepcion, Argentina, September 9, 1880 
(Barrows). Some dates of the last seen are: Fort Churchill, Kee- 
watin, September 1, 1884 (Bell); Newfoundland, to end of Septem- 
ber (Reeks); Sa3^brook, Conn., October 13, 1874 (Merriam); Barba- 
dos, West Indies, November 4, 1886 (Manning). Many curlews 
migrated south along the west coast of Hudson Ba}^, before they 
turned east to the Atlantic and some of these seem to have wandered 
occasionally southward and given rise to such records as Kingston, 
Ontario, October 10, 1873 (Fleming); Erie, Pa., September 17, 1889 
(Sennett) ; and a few fall records around Lake Michigan. 

The Eskimo curlew is rapidly approaching extinction, if indeed 
any still exist. In the early sixties MacFarlane found them breeding 
abundantl}^ on the Barren Grounds near Fort Anderson, while Coues 
reports thousands passing south along the Labrador coast in the fall; 
in the early seventies Coues found them equally abundant passing 
north through South Dakota in the spring. Ten years later they 
were still common in their winter home in Argentina, and natural- 
ists who visited the Labrador coast at this time record them as 
present in flocks but not in numbers as seen by Coues. By 1889 
only a few flocks were seen, and within the next half dozen years the 
flights ceased. During the last fifteen j'ears the species has been 
recorded only a few times and apparently onh" three times in the 
ten years previous to 1909: Tuckernuck Island, Massachusetts, eight 
birds August 24, 1897 (Mackay) ; Nantucket, Mass., two, August 18, 
1898 (Mackay); northeastern coast of Labrador, about a dozen the 
fall of 1900 (Bigelow). The latest records are those of two birds 
shot August 27, 1908, at Newburyport, Mass. (Thayer), and one 
September 2, 1909, at Hog Island, Maine (Knight). The disappear- 
ance of the Eskimo curlew has given rise to much speculation as to 
the probable cause. A simple explanation is that during recent 
years, especially since 1880, its former winter home in Argentina has 
been settled and cultivated, w^hile its spring feeding grounds in 
Nebraska and South Dakota have been converted into farm land. 

[European Curlew. Numenius arquatus (Linn.). 

This Eastern Hemisphere species breeds from Great Britain to southern Russia^ 
the White Sea, and the Ural Mountains. It winters in Great Britain and occurs at 
this season from the Mediterranean to the south end of Africa. 

It is probable that one specimen of this curlew was collected on Long Island in 
1853 — its only North American record.] 



DOTTEREL. 77 

Whimbrel, Numenius phxopus (Linn.). 
Though an Old World species, the whimbrel is a common visitor 
in Greenland (Schalow) and possibly breeds there. It breeds in 
Iceland, Scandinavia, and Russia, east to the Ural Mountains and 
north to the Arctic Circle. It winters on the coast and islands of 
tropical and southern Africa, and ranges at this season east to India 
and the Malay Peninsula. One was taken May 23, 1906, about 
latitude 43° N. and longitude 60° W., south of Sable Island, Nova 
Scotia (Brewster). 

Bristle-thighed Curlew. Numenius tahitiensis (GmeL). 

The breeding range of this species has not yet been ascertained, 
but in Alaska it has been taken May 18, 1869, on the Kenai Penin- 
sula (Bischoff) ; May 24, 1880, at St. Michael (Nelson) ; August 26, 
1885, on the Kowak River (Townsend) ; and May 23, 1905, at the head 
of Nome River (Anthony). These dates would seem to indicate 
that the species nests in the northern part of its range. 

The species is common on the Hawaiian Islands and occurs through- 
out the islands of the Pacific south to New Caledonia and from the 
Ladrones to the Marquesas and Paumota islands. The Pacific 
islands seem to be the winter home of the species, and on some of 
them it is quite common. It has been taken in the Phoenix group 
near the equator in June and July, and a few are known to remain 
all summer in Hawaii (Henshaw), but these apparently are non- 
breeding birds. 

Lapwing. Vanellus vanellus (Linn.). 

Though an Old World species, the lapwing has been noted several 
times in Greenland on the west coast from Julianehaab to Godthaab, 
at various times from early December to the first of April (Schalow) . 
It has been taken as a straggler at White Hills, Newfoundland, No- 
vember 23, 1905 (Brewster); Halifax, Nova Scotia, March 17, 1897 
(Piers) ; Merrick, Long Island, about December 26, 1883 (Dutcher) ; 
Meccox Bay, Long Island, fall of 1905 (Beebe) ; Hog Island, Bahamas, 
November, 1900 (Fleming); Barbados, 1886 (Cory). 

The breeding range extends from Great Britain to Japan, from 
central Europe to the Arctic Circle, and from northern China to about 
latitude 55° in Siberia. The species winters from about the southern 
limit of the breeding range to northern Africa and southern China. 

DottereL Eudromias morinellus (Linn.). 
This is an accidental visitor to North America, the only record being 
that of one taken July 23, 1897, on King Island, Alaska (Stone). It 
breeds from Great Britain, southern Russia, and eastern Siberia north 
to the islands of the Arctic coast. It winters from southern Europe 
to equatorial Africa. 



78 NORTH AMERICAN SHOREBIRDS. 

Black-bellied Plover. Squatarola squatarola (Linn.). 

Breeding range. — This is a circumpolar species, but the places where 
it is known to breed are comparatively few. In North America it 
has been found breeding on the Melville Peninsula (Richardson), 
Boothia Felix (Ross), Franklin Bay (MacFarlane), and Point Barrow 
(Murdoch), In the Eastern Hemisphere it breeds on the Kolgnjef 
and Dolgoi islands of Russia and near the Taimyr Peninsula, Siberia, 
and probably breeds on the Liakoff Islands, Siberia, and near the 
south end of Nova Zembla Island. 

Winter range. — The North American breeding birds pass south in 
winter to Chimbote and Tumbez, in northern Peru (Taczanowski) , and 
to the Amazon River, Brazil (Pelzeln). The species is also found at 
this season through northern South America, the West Indies, Central 
America, and Mexico to the coast of South Carolina (Coues), occa- 
sionally North Carolina (Bishop), southern Texas (Sennett), and the 
coast of California north to Humboldt County (Townsend). It prob- 
ably wintered formerly to the mouth of the Columbia (Suckley). The 
birds of Russia and Siberia winter from the Mediterranean, India, and 
southern China to southern Africa and Australia. The species is 
accidental in Hawaii (Henshaw). 

Migration range. — The black-bellied plover has been taken several 
times on the west coast of Greenland north to Egedesminde, latitude 
69° N. (Winge), but probably does not breed in that country. It is 
known only as a migrant along the east coast of Siberia, as at Plover 
Bay (Nelson) and on the Commander Islands (Stejneger). 

Spring migration. — The species is a late and not common migrant 
on the Atlantic coast in the spring, and appears in New Jersey (Stone) 
and on Long Island in late April and early May;. Montauk, N. Y., 
April 30, 1902 (Scott); Cape Cod, Massachusetts, average May 23, 
earliest April 18, 1894 (Mackay); Pictou, Nova Scotia, May 17, 1895 
(Hickman). Nor is it common in the interior, where some dates of 
spring arrivals are: Near New Orleans, La., March 2, 1890 (Beyer); 
Sedalia, Mo., March 21, 1884 (Sampson); southern Ontario, average 
May 27, earliest May 22 (Fleming); Vermilion, S. Dak., May 3, 1884 
(Agersborg) ; northern North Dakota, average May 8, earliest May 5, 
1894 (Bowen); Reaburn, Manitoba, average May 19, earliest May 14, 
1901 (Wemyss); Cheyenne, Wyo., average May 18, earliest May 11, 
1884 (Bond); Indian Head, Saskatchewan, average May 14, earliest 
May 9, 1904 (Lang) ; Fort Chipewyan, Alberta, May 23, 1901 (Preble) ; 
Fort Resolution, Mackenzie, June 2, 1860 (Kennicott); Sitka, Alaska, 
May 6, 1869 (Bischoff); mouth of the Yukon, May 12; Dawson, 
Yukon, May 20, 1899 (Bishop); Point Barrow, Alaska, June 21, 1882 
(Murdoch), and June 26, 1898 (Stone). 

Some individuals remain late in the spring on the Atlantic coast and 
possibly some nonbreeders may remain the entire summer. In 
Florida they have been seen June 14, June 29, July 4, July 26, and 



EUKOPEAN GOLDEN PLOVER. 79 

August 3 (Scott and Worthington) . They have been seen in Jamaica 
in June (Field) , and even off the coast of Venezuela they were common 
June 21-27, 1892 (Hartert). The last of the regular migrants do not 
leave the coast of Massachusetts until June — average June 6, latest 
June 15, 1886 (Cahoon); Western Egg Rock, Maine, June 24, 1895 
(Knight) ; Toronto, Ontario, June 2 (Fleming) ; Corpus Christi, Tex., 
July 1, 1887 (Sennett). 

Eggs were taken at Franklin Bay, Mackenzie, July 4, 1864, and 
July 8, 1865 (MacFarlane), but in each case the eggs were already 
partly incubated. 

Fall migration. — The southward movement begins early in July, 
bringing a few individuals into the United States the latter part of 
that month — eastern Massachusetts, July 8 (Howe and Allen); 
Toronto, Ontario, July 23, 1890 (Fleming) — but the regular migra- 
tion occurs in August: Cape Cod, Massachusetts, average August 17, 
earliest August 6 (Mackay) ; Long Island, New York, average August 
6, earliest July 1, 1905 (Kobbe) ; Erie, Pa., August 1, 1890 (Todd); 
southern Wisconsin, August 10, 1872 (Kumlien and Hollister); 
southern British Columbia, August 15, 1903 (Brooks). The last were 
seen at Winter Island on the coast of Melville Peninsula August 17, 
1821 (Greely), and the first flocks came along the Labrador coast 
August 15, 1860 (Coues). The species was unusually abundant on 
Prince Edward Island in 1892 from August 22 to September 14 
(Mackay). Some dates of the last seen are: Point Barrow, Alaska, 
August 20, 1897 (Stone); Great Bear Lake, Mackenzie, September 5, 
1903 (Preble); St. Michael, Alaska, September 16, 1899 (Bishop); 
southern British Columbia, October 23, 1888 (Brooks); Fort Collins, 
Colo., October 28, 1893 (Cooke); Lincoln, Nebr., October 21, 1899 
(Wolcott) ; Ottawa, Ontario, average October 24, latest November 8, 
1903 (White); Pictou, Nova Scotia, October 11, 1894 (Hickman); 
Cape Cod, Massachusetts, average October 21, latest November 14, 
1887 (Cahoon) — accidental in December, 1872 (Mackay); Erie, Pa., 
November 10, 1894 (Todd) ; Long Island, New York, average October 
15, latest November 7, 1905 (Latham). 

European Golden Plover. Charadrius apricarius Linn. 

The combined ranges of the three golden plovers complete the cir- 
cumference of the globe in the vicinity of the Arctic Circle. In 
general it may be said that apricarius breeds in northern Europe and 
northwestern Siberia; dominicus in North America; and fulvus in 
eastern Siberia. The ranges of apricarius and dominicus meet on the 
west coast of Greenland; dominicus smd fulvus join ranges in western 
Alaska; the dividing line in Siberia between fulvus and apricarius 
has not yet been determined. 

The European golden plover breeds from Great Britain to western 
Siberia and south to central Europe. It winters from about the 



80 NORTH AMERICAN SHOREBIRDS. 

southern limit of the breeding range south to Beluchistan and north- 
ern Africa. This plover has been taken as a summer visitor to the 
east coast of Greenland (Helms), and at several places on the west 
coast from the southern end to Christianshaab about 69° latitude 
(Winge). It has not yet been found breeding in Greenland, though 
it has been taken there in midsummer (Helms). 

Golden Plover. Charadrius dominicus Miill. 

Breeding range. — The summer home of the golden plover extends 
from Whale Point at the northwest corner of Hudson Bay (Eifrig), 
west across the barren grounds to the mouth of the Anderson River 
(MacFarlane), and thence along the barren grounds of the coast of 
Alaska to Kotzebue Sound (Grinnell) . It extends north in Franklin 
to include the islands, at least as far as latitude 77°. The bird is 
known to breed commonly on Banks Island (Armstrong), Prince 
Albert Island (Armstrong), Melville Island (Parry), and the islands 
at the north end of WeUington Channel (Belcher), and east to the 
eastern coast of Melville Peninsula (Parry). It probably does not 
breed in Greenland, though it occurs not uncommonly on the west 
coast to about latitude 73° (Walker). There are somewhat doubtful 
records of the species having been seen August 7, 1881, at Cape Baird, 
Lady Franklin Bay, 81° 30' N. (Greely), and on July 12, 1872, at 
Thank God Harbor, Greenland, 81° 40' (Davis). As the belt of 
tundra along the north coast of Alaska is comparatively narrow, the 
principal breeding grounds of the golden plover are between the 
mouth of the Mackenzie River and the Gulf of Boothia, north of the 
Arctic Circle. 

Winter range. — The species ranges south on the Atlantic coast to 
Bahia Blanca, central Argentina (Barrows) , and the center of abun- 
dance during the winter season is the pampas of Argentina (Sclater 
and Hudson) and Uruguay (Aplin), between the parallels of 34° and 
36° S. Individuals remain during the winter as far north as Rio 
Janeiro, Brazil (Hapgood), on the coast and to Cuyaba, Matto Grosso 
(Pelzeln), in the interior. There is one record of the occurrence of 
the species (probably casual) in January at Nauta in northeastern 
Peru (Sharpe). The golden plover does not winter in the Lesser 
Antilles nor in that part of northeastern South America where it is 
most abundant in migration. It has been recorded as wintering at 
several places north of South America, but probably such of these 
records as are not errors represent accidental or unusual occurrences. 

Migration range. — From the breeding grounds the golden plover 
go south and southeast to Labrador; then cross the Gulf of St. Law- 
rence and its islands to Nova Scotia, and from the southern coast of 
the latter fly directly across the ocean to the Lesser Antilles and the 
coast of northeastern South America. Sometimes when caught by a 
storm during this flight they seek the nearest land, appearing not 



GOLDEN PLOVER. 81 

infrequently at the Bermudas, Cape Cod, and Long Island. After a 
short stop in the Antilles and northern South America, they pass to 
the winter home in Argentina and remain there from September to 
March. 

The return northward in spring is by a different route, the details 
of which are not yet determined. What is known is that they disap- 
pear from Argentina and shun the whole Atlantic coast from Brazil 
to Labrador. In March they appear in Guatemala and Texas; April 
finds them on the prairies of the Mississippi Valley; the first of May 
sees them crossing our northern boundary; and by the first week in 
June they reappear on their breeding grounds in the frozen north. 

Various theories have been advanced to account for this strange 
migration course. The simplest explanation seems to be the applica- 
tion of the following, which may be laid down as the fundamental law 
underlying the choice of migration routes. Birds follow that route 
between the winter and summer homes that is the shortest and at the 
same time furnishes an abundant food supply. Applying this rule to 
the case of the golden plover, the following facts are apparent: The 
plover is a bird of treeless regions; it summers on the tundras and 
winters on the pampas; an enormous food supply especially palatable 
tempts it in the fall to Labrador and furnishes power for the long 
flight to South America. To attempt to return in spring by the same 
course would be suicidal, for at that season Labrador would furnish 
scant provender. The plover seeks the shortest treeless route over- 
land, and alighting on the coast of Texas travels leisurely over the 
Mississippi Valley prairies, which are abundantly supplied with food, 
to the plains of the Saskatchewan and thence to the Arctic coast. 

Spring migration. — The principal line of migration from the winter 
home northward through South America is not yet known; the 
species is said to be common in March and April in Peru (Sclater and 
Salvin) east of the mountains, but next to nothing is known regarding 
its appearance in the territory for a thousand miles to the northward. 
The species is practically unrecorded at all seasons of the year from 
Ecuador, Colombia, Panama, Nicaragua, and tlonduras, and though 
a few have been noted in Costa Rica (Cherrie), Guatemala (Sclater 
and Salvin), and eastern Mexico (Sclater), in none of these countries 
have the great flocks been seen that are so characteristic of the fall 
flight in the Lesser Antilles and of the spring advance up the Missis- 
sippi Valley. Not until Texas is reached can the movements of the 
golden plover be definitely traced, and at no place between Peru and 
Texas has it ever been recorded as common. In fact, the records as 
they stand are what they should be if the plover escapes the forested 
regions of northern South America and Central America by a single 
flight of from 2,000 to 2,500 miles from the valleys of eastern Peru to 
the treeless prairies of Texas. The general time of appearance in the 
36595°— Bull. 35—12 6 



82 NOETH AMEEICAl^ SHOREBIEDS. 

United States and of passage to the summer home can be gathered 
from the following dates of arrival: Boerne, Tex., March 9, 1880 
(Brown); Indianola, Tex., March 15, 1856 (Cassin); Gainesville, 
Tex., March 17, 1885 (Ragsdale) ; Caddo, Okla., March 12, 1SS4 
(Cooke); near New Orleans, La., March 24, 1894 (Allison), April 2, 
1881 (Langdon); Fayetteville, Ark., abundant March 20-31, 1883 
(Harvey); central Missouri, average April 13, earliest April 11, 1903 
(Bryant); Badger, Nebr., average April 8, earliest April 5, 1903 
(Colt); Lebanon, 111., March 17, 1876 (Jones); Tampico, 111., average 
April 10, earliest March 31, 1885 (Brown); Terre Haute, Ind., March 
23, 1888 (Evermann); Chicago, 111., average April 16, earliest March 
30, 1899 (Gault) ; central Iowa, average April 19, earliest April 12, 
1883 (Williams); Heron Lake, Minnesota, average May 1 (Miller); 
central South Dakota, average April 30, earliest April 25, 1888 
(Bishop) ; Larimore, N. Dak., average May 5, earliest May 2, 1895 
(Eastgate) ; Aweme, Manitoba, average May 4, earliest April 23, 1905 
(Criddle); Indian Head, Saskatchewan, May 9, 1904 (Lang); Fort 
Simpson, Mackenzie, May 26, 1860 (Ross), May 19, 1904 (Preble); 
Fort Reliance, Yukon, May 13 (Nelson); Point Barrow, Alaska, 
latitude 71° N., May 21, 1882 (Murdoch), May 24, 1883 (Murdoch), 
June 1, 1898 (Stone). The dates of arrival in the province of Frank- 
lin are: Igloolik, 69°, June 14, 1823 (Parry); Boothia Felix, 70°, 
June 4, 1830 (Ross), June 22, 1831 (Ross); Prince of Wales Strait, 
73°, June 7, 1851 (Armstrong); Bay of Mercy, 74°, June 3, 1852 
(Armstrong); Winter Harbor, 75°, June 2, 1820 (Parry); near Wel- 
lington Channel, 77°, June 2, 1853 (Belcher). 

The latest dates recorded in the southern part of the winter range 
are March 12 (Aplin) and March 19 (Barrows) ; in the northern part 
of the winter home the species remains until April (Sclater and 
Salvin) ; at Chicago the average date of the last one seen is April 30, 
and the latest May 9, 1895 (Blackwelder) . Some other late dates 
are: Near New Orleans, La., June 10, 1907 (Kopman) ; Lebanon, 
Ind., May 10, 1894 (Beasley) ; Lawrence, Kans., May 8, 1906 (Wet- 
more); White, S. Dak., May 27, 1889 (Partch) ; Aweme, Manitoba, 
average May 23, latest May 29, 1896 (Criddle); Fort Chipewyan, 
Alberta, June 1, 1893 (Russell). South of the latitude of Chicago 
the bulk of the spring shooting of golden plover is in April; from Iowa 
northward to Canada the spring shooting occurs chiefly during the 
first half of May. 

During the spring migration the golden plover is almost entirely 
absent from the Atlantic coast. There are three spring records for 
Massachusetts (Mackay) and a few for Long Island (Giraud), the last 
of them many years ago. Probably most of the other scattered 
spring records east of the Alleghenies are errors of identification. 
The species is not common at any time of the year vv-est of Texas, 



GOLDEN PLOVER. 83 

Nebraska, and Saskatchewan, and apparently is absent in spring 
from the whole region west of the Eocky ]\Iountains. 

Eggs were collected on the lower Anderson River, Mackenzie, 
June 24, 1863, June 22, 1864, and June 16, 1865 (MacFarlane) ; at 
Point Barrow, Alaska, June 22, 1882, and June 23, 1883 (Murdoch). 

Fall migration. — The old birds start south in July, and those that 
are to make the flight from Nova Scotia to the Lesser Antilles occupy 
about a month in the trip from the breeding grounds to the southern 
coast of Nova Scotia. If fair weather prevails, the flocks of golden 
plover pass by the New England coast far out at sea, but severe 
storms are frequent at this season, and the birds are often driven to 
land. The average for twenty-eight years of the date of arrival of 
these storm-driven migrants at Nantucket, Mass., is August 25, 
earliest August 12, 1898 (Mackay); a still earlier date is August 7, 
1852, at Plymouth, Mass. (Browne). Five times in these twenty- 
eight years birds were seexi before August 20 (Mackay). The rule 
on Long Island is to expect the plover with the first storm occurring 
after August 28 (Lawrence). The first flocks are noted in the Ber- 
mudas during the last ten days of August (Reid), and about the same 
time the species arrives in the Lesser Antilles (Lawrence) and even on 
the coast of British Guiana (Quelch). A few golden plover reach 
Argentina the last week in August (Sclater and Hudson) and the 
species has been taken in Bolivia in August (Allen), but these early 
couriers are exceptional, and the main flocks arrive in September, 

On the west side of Baffin Bay in 1820 the last was seen September 
3 (Parry); in Nova Scotia the species sometimes remains until 
October (McKinlay). The average date of the last one seen at 
Nantucket, Mass., for ten years previous to 1890 is October 2, 
latest October 22, 1878 (Mackay); for the years since 1890 the 
average date of the last seen is September 23 (Mackay). Near New- 
port, R. I., a market hunter shot 386 golden plover during 1867 to 
1874; the dates ranged from August 14, 1868, to October 24, 1874 
(Sturtevant). On Long Island the dates of the earliest and latest 
recorded observations of the species are August 15 and November 10 
(Chapman). In the Bermudas and the Lesser Antilles most of the 
birds leave in October, though some stragglers may be noted in 
November. 

In the interior of New England the golden plover is rare in fall, 
though at times it is quite common on Lake Champlain. Throughout 
New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey it is usually very rare, but 
in 1880 and in several other years it has been common in those States. 
It has been seen at Erie, Pa., on dates ranging from August 20, 1896, 
to November 18, 1900 (Todd). South of New Jersey on the Atlantic 
coast, also in the Bahamas, the golden plover is almost unknown, 
and it is not common anywhere in the Greater Antilles west of St. 
Croix. 



84 li^OETH AMEEICAIiT SHOREBIRDS. 

While the greater number of golden plover migrate across the 
Atlantic, a few pass south in the fall through the interior of Xorth 
America. The first arrival from the north noted near Fort Churchill, 
Keewatin, in 1900, was on August 4 (Preble). Other dates of fall 
arrival in the interior are: Moose Factory, Ontario, September 8, 1860 
(Drexler); Aweme, Manitoba, average September 9, earliest* August 
10, 1904 (Griddle) ; Lincoln, Xebr., September 22, 1900 (Wolcott) ; near 
Toronto, Ontario, August 31, 1891 (Xash), September 1, 1898 (X'ash); 
Point Pelee, Ontario, September 15, 1905 (Swales), September 19, 
1906 (Taverner); Chicago, 111., average September 12, earliest Sep- 
tember 10, 1898 (Gault); Bay St. Louis, Miss., September 26, 1899 
(Allison); San Jose, Costa Rica, October 20, 1890 (Cherrie). Prob- 
ably these ]^Iississippi VaUey fall birds are the ones that are fairly 
common in Peru from September to Xovember (Sclater and Salvin) 
and that were noted in October at Arica, Chile (MacFarlane). 

The form of the golden plover that breeds on the northern and 
northwestern coasts of Alaska does not seem to migrate along the 
western coast of Alaska, but passes in general east to Mackenzie. A 
few individuals migrate southeast and occur in the fall as rare strag- 
lers on the Pacific slope: Sitka, Alaska, August 16, 1896 (Grinnell) ; 
Chilliwack, British Columbia, August 26, 1889 (Brooks); Port 
Townsend, Wash., September 9, 1897 (Fisher); Santa Cruz, Calif., 
October 22, 1888 (McGregor); San Jose del Cabo, Lower California, 
October 18, 1887 (Brewster). 

The golden plover does not remain late in the north. The last 
seen on the breeding grounds at Point Barrow, Alaska, were noted 
August 28, 1882 (Murdoch), and August 20, 1897 (Stone). Some 
other dates of late occurrence are: Great Bear Lake, September 6, 
1903 (Preble); Fort Simpson, September 10, 1860 (Ross); Edmonton, 
Alberta, September 23, 1894 (Loring); Indian Head, Saskatchewan, 
October 2, 1904 (Lang) ; Aweme, Manitoba, average October 14, 
latest October 16, 1901 (Criddle) ; near Fort Pierre, S. Dak., October 
21, 1855 (Cassin); Fort Sherman, Idaho, abundant September 
15-20, 1896 (Merrill); X^ewcastle, Colo., October 5, 1902 (Bishop); 
Lincoln, Nebr., November 14, 1899 (Wolcott); Lanesboro, Minn., 
November 2, 1889 (Hvoslef); southern Iowa, average October 27, 
latest November 9, 1895 (Currier); Chicago, 111., average October 
11, latest October 28, 1895 (Blackwelder) ; English Lake, Ind., 
November 9, 1891, November 15, 1892 (Butler); Ottawa, Ontario, 
October 31, 1906 (White); city of Quebec, Canada, N'ovember 10, 
1890 (Dionne); San Jose, Costa Rica, December 15, 1890 (Cherrie). 

The golden plover is one of the shorebirds that has diminished 
most markedly during the last twenty years. Formerly it was 
enormously abundant, and many are the accounts of the countless 
flocks that passed in an almost continuous stream across the Gulf of 



Bui. 35, Biological Survey, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 



Plate IV. 




KiLLDEER (OXYECHUS VOCIFERUS). 



KILLDEEE. 85 

St. Lawrence and out to sea. On the return up the Mississippi 
Valley also they were abundant. For the ten years 1895-1904 
the numbers reported have been so small that the species seemed in 
imminent danger of extinction. During 1905 and 1906, however, 
the species was reported from quite a number of localities, indicating 
that at present the comparatively small number of individuals left 
are holding their own. The future of the American golden plover is 
in the hands of the sportsmen of the Mississippi Valley. During the 
breeding season the birds are out of reach of danger from mankind; 
through the winter their welfare is out of the control of the people of 
the United States; but in spring during their two thousand mile 
journey up the Mississippi Valley, for from six to eight weeks, great 
numbers are slaughtered, and as a result they have diminished to a 
small fraction of their former numbers. If the species is to hold its 
own spring shooting in the Mississippi Valley must be largely cur- 
tailed or entirely abolished. 

Pacific Golden Plover. Charadrius dominicus fulvus Gmel. 
The principal summer home of the Pacific golden plover is in Asia, 
where it breeds in northern Siberia east of the Yenisei River; it 
breeds also on the western coast of Alaska from near Bering Strait 
south to Bristol Bay. It winters on the Hawaiian Islands and in 
China and India and south to New Zealand and Australia. Early 
dates of arrival in Alaska are at Portage Bay, May 13, 1882 (Hart- 
laub); Kadiak Island, May 13, 1868 (Bischoff) ; Atka Island, May 
17, 1879 (Turner). The usual time of arrival at the mouth of the 
Yukon is about the first of June, and the latest date in the fall is 
October 12 (Nelson). 

Killdeer. Oxyechus vociferus (Linn.). 
Breeding range. — The killdeer has one of the most extensive 
breeding ranges of the American shorebirds. It ranges north in 
summer to central Quebec (Merriam), northern Ontario (Todd), cen- 
tral Keewatin (Preble), southern Mackenzie (Preble), and to about 
latitude 53° in the interior of British Columbia. The killdeer was 
seen at Fort Churchill, Keewatin, and at Fort Resolution, Mackenzie, 
by parties of the Biological Survey, and these observations very 
materially extend its previously known northern range. The 
breeding range of the killdeer extends much farther south than that 
of other northern breeding shorebirds. The species breeds not only 
throughout the whole of the United States, but south to Cape St. 
Lucas, Lower California (Xantus), and to Rio Sestin, Durango 
(Miller). Killdeers occur in Newfoundland in the fall (Reeks), but 
are not known to breed on that island. 

Winter range. — The winter range is much less extensive than the 
summer. Though there are records of the presence of the species in 



86 NORTH AMEEICAN SHOREBIEDS. 

Paraguay (Sharpe) and Chile (Salvin), it is probable that these repre- 
sent casual occurrences and that regularly the species ranges to the 
Bermudas (Jardine), throughout the West Indies and the neighboring 
northern coast of Venezuela (Ernst), but not farther east or south 
on the Atlantic coast; while on the Pacific it regularly passes south 
to northwestern Peru (Sclater and Salvin) and the interior of Colom- 
bia and Medellin (Sclater and Salvin). The northern winter range 
extends regularly to North Carolina (Brimley), Tennessee (Gettys), 
central Texas (Brown), rarely southern Arizona (Mearns), and 
throughout most of the southern half of California (Fisher) . Casual 
occurrences have been noted in Maryland (Stabler), Pennsylvania 
(Burns), and Rhode Island (Mearns). After the great storm of 
November, 1888, which carried large numbers of killdeer to the 
New England coast several weeks later than the usual time for 
their disappearance from that part of their range, many of these 
birds failed to undertake a second southward migration and remained 
on the coasts of Massachusetts (Torrey), New Hampshire (Chad- 
bourne) , and southwestern Maine (Brown) . Most of them perished 
during the winter, but on the Massachusetts coast a few managed 
to endure. An occasional killdeer passes a mild winter in southern 
Ohio (Jones), southern Indiana (McAtee), or on the Pacific coast to 
Washington (Johnson). 

Spring migration. — The killdeer is among the earhest migrants 
among shorebirds, and is not far behind the earliest migrating land 
birds. Its loud, piercing, oft-repeated calls make its identification 
easy, and many data have been accumulated concerning the time of 
its migrations. These begin in February in the northern part of the 
winter range, and during that month many crowd northward to the 
limit of unfrozen ground. Such birds arrive on the average near 
Asheville, N. C, February 22, earliest February 18, 1893 (Cairns); 
central Kentucky, February 25, earliest February 19, 1906 (Embody) ; 
Brookville, Ind., February 23, earliest February 15, 1890 (Butler). 
The early days of March find the killdeer in full migration far beyond 
its winter home, and its arrival has been noted as follows: Variety 
Mills, Va., average March 13, earliest March 2, 1888 (Micklem); 
White Sulphur Springs, W. Va., average March 9, earliest March 2 
1891 (Surber); Washington, D. C, average March 18, earliest Feb- 
ruary 14, 1908 (Hollister) ; Waynesburg, Pa., average March 8, ear- 
liest February 24, 1891 (Jacobs); Berwyn, Pa., average March 14, 
earliest January 29, 1889 (Burns); Branchport, N. Y., average 
March 19, earliest March 1, 1890 (Burtch); Jewett. City, Conn., 
average for twenty-one years March 17, earliest March 2, 1888 (Jen- 
nings) ; central Rhode Island, average March 19, earhest February 27, 
1902. Even as far north as Rhode Island, the killdeer is so rare 
that a market gunner near Newport (Sturtevant) secured only three 
during eight years while shooting several thousand shorebirds. 



KILLDEEK. 87 

There seems to be a section west of the Allegheny Mountains in 
which the killdeer arrives earlier than at corresponding latitudes 
either east or west. The average date of arrival at Waterloo, Ind., 
is March 5 (Link); Oberlin, Ohio, March 5 (Jones); Livonia, Mich., 
March 10 (Alexander); and Petersburg, Mich., March 10 (Trombly). 
Near there in Pennsylvania, on the western side of the mountains, 
the date of arrival at Waynesburg has already been given as March 
8 (Jacobs). At the same latitude in Pennsylvania east of the 
mountains the killdeer arrives a week later, while to the westward 
of Indiana the retardation of migration is shown by the following 
dates of arrival: Central Missouri, average March 12, earliest Feb- 
ruary 4, 1890 (Bush) ; southern Iowa, average March 12, earliest 
March 2, 1906 (Davison) ; southern Wisconsin, average of thirty years 
March 15, earliest March 2, 1887 (Welman); Chicago, 111., average of 
sixteen years March 21, earliest February 28, 1895 (Woodruff). 
Farther north in Ontario, as the killdeer nears the limit of its breed- 
ing range, the arrival is much delayed; southern Ontario is not 
reached on the average until March 23, earliest March 7, 1903 (Smith), 
while the average date at Ottawa, Ontario, is April 17, earliest 
March 18, 1894 (White). Dates of arrival farther west are: Man- 
hattan, Kans., average March 8, earliest February 27, 1882 (Lantz); 
Onaga, Kans., average March 4, earliest February 23, 1891 (Creve- 
coeur); Syracuse, Nebr., average March 10, earliest February 26, 
1902 (Hunter); central South Dakota, average March 24, earliest 
March 20, 1889 (Cheney); Lanesboro, Minn., average March 29, ear- 
liest March 13, 1889 (Hvoslef ) ; Argusville, N. Dak., average April 7, 
earliest March 31, 1893 (Edwards); Larimore, N. Dak., average 
April 7, earliest April 3, 1893 (Eastgate) ; southern Manitoba, aver- 
age April 5, earliest March 24, 1902 (Criddle) ; Qu'Appelle, Saskatche- 
wan, average April 16, earliest April 8, 1903 (Wemyss) ; two seen 
June 25, 1903, at Fort Resolution, Mackenzie (Preble). 

The advance in the Rocky Mountains is not so late comparatively 
as in most species: Cheyenne, Wyo., average March 21, earliest 
March 16, 1889 (Bond); Rathdrum, Idaho, average March 30, ear- 
liest February 19, 1902 (Danby); Terry, Mont., average April 6, 
earliest March 29, 1897 (Cameron); Big Sandy, Mont., average 
April 6, earliest April 3, 1904 (Coubeaux) ; Red Deer, Alberta, April 
11, 1893 (Farley); Portland, Oreg., February 27, 1900 (Nicholas); 
Grays Harbor, Washington, February 16, 1892 (Lawrence); southern 
British Columbia, February 28, 1888 (Brooks). South of the breed- 
ing grounds the last was seen at San Jose, Costa Rica, March 12, 1890 
(Cherrie), and at Sisal, Yucatan, May 9, 1865 (Schott). 

The date of nesting seems to bear little relation to the latitude. 
Eggs have been taken at Cape St. Lucas, Lower California, May 9, 
1860 (Xantus); Monterey, Calif., March, 1867 (Day and Spencer); 



88 NOETH A]\IEE1CAH SHOREBIKDS. 

Variety [Mills, Ysl., April 12, 1S86 (Mcklem) ; Laurel, Md., just hatch- 
ing April 24, 1897 ; Erie, Pa. , AprH 7, 1888 (Todd) ; Canandaigua, N. Y., 
April 23, 1879 (Howey); Bloomington, Ind., April 12, 1903 (McAtee); 
Kingston, Ontario, May 1, 1905 (Beaupre) ; Eagle Pass, Tex., March 
18, 1884 (Negley); Corvalhs, Oreg., downy young late April (Wood- 
cock); Tacoma, Wash., April 14, 1908 (Bowles); Edmonton, Alberta, 
eggs May 19, 1897 (Macoun). 

Fall migration. — The few records of fall arrival south of the breed- 
ing range show that the killdeer is one of the late migrants. It was 
noted in Porto Rico, October 18, 1899, and October 7, 1900 (Bowdish) ; 
San Jose, Costa Rica, October 15, 1891 (Cherrie); and on the coast of 
Pern, October 24, 1867 (Sclater and Salvin). 

The last noted in southern British Columbia was November 28, 
1888 (Brooks); Aweme, Manitoba, average September 23, latest 
September 30, 1901 (Criddle); Onaga, Kans., average October 22, 
latest November 8, 1896 (Crevecoeur) ; Lincoln, Nebr., latest Novem- 
ber 18, 1900 (Wolcott); Delavan, Wis., November 6, 1894 (HoUister); 
southern Iowa, average November 10, latest December 25, 1886 
(Houghton); Chicago, 111., average October 21, latest November 13, 
1SS5 (Holmes); southern ]\Iichigan, average November 1, latest 
November 13, 1891 (Alexander); Ottawa, Ontario, average Septem- 
ber 11. latest October 16, 1905 (White); southern Ontario, average 
October 19, latest November 10, 1900 (Saunders); Wauseon, Ohio, 
average November 9, latest November 23, 1891 (IVIikesel); Waterloo, 
Ind., average November 7, latest November 21, 1905 (Link); Mon- 
treal, Canada, September 1, 1895 (Wintle); Phillips, Me., October 24, 
1905 (Sweet); Block Island, R. L, November 5, 1889 (Dodge); 
Branchport, N. Y., November 29, 1896 (Stone); Suffield, Conn., 
November 16, 1887 (Smith); Erie, Pa., November 26, 1891 (Todd); 
Berwyn, Pa., average November 3, latest November 22, 1886 (Burns) ; 
Bloomington, Ind., December 12, 1885 (McAtee); St. Louis, Mo., 
December 18, 1887 (Widmann). 

[Santo Domingo Killdeer. Oxyechus vociferus torqwatus (Linn.). 

The Santo Domingo kiUdeer is the resident form of the West Indies, breeding in 
Cuba, the Isle of Pines, Jamaica, and Haiti, and probably also in Porto Rico.] 

Semipalmated Plover. JEgialitis semipalmata (Bonap.). 

Breeding range. — The present known summer home of the semi- 

pahnated plover extends north to Cumberland Sound (Kumlien), 

Melville Peninsula (Parry), Wehington Channel (Greely), and Melville 

Island (Parry). The occurrence of the species at these two latter 

places, latitude about 75° N., makes it probable that it occurs equally 

far north on the western side of Baffin Bay. It is common on the 

arctic coast of America as far west as the mouth of the Mackenzie 

(MacFarlane). Thence westward it seems to be rare on the northern 

coast of Alaska (Nelson), but is tolerably common in Kotzebue 



SEMIPALMATED PLOVER. 89 

jSound (Townsend). It seems to be more commion in the middle 
Yukon Valley (Bishop) than on the coast. 

This plover breeds south to Sable Island (Dodd); southern New 
Brunswick (Cheney) ; the Magdalen Islands (Brewster) ; southern 
James Bay (Todd) ; York Factory, in southern Keewatin (Preble) ; 
probably rarely in northern Manitoba (Macoun) ; on the Slave Hiver 
of southern Mackenzie (Preble); Lake Marsh, southern Yukon 
(Bishop) ; to the mouth of the Yukon, Alaska (Dall and Bannister) ; 
and on the Queen Charlotte Islands, B. C. (Brooks). 

Winter range. — The species winters on both coasts of South 
America — south to Port Desire, 48° S. (Seebohm), on the east coast, 
and to central Chile (Schalow) on the west; thence through northern 
South America, Central America, and the West Indies to the southern 
Bahamas (Bonhote), Florida (Worthington), the coast of Georgia 
(Helme), South Carolina (Kendall), Mississippi (Allison), and Loui- 
siana (Beyer) ; on the Pacific coast of Mexico, north to southern Lower 
California (Brewster). In winter it is thus one of the most widely dis- 
tributed of the shorebirds. 

Migration range. — The species is a common migrant in eastern 
North America west to the eastern parts of Texas (Beckham), 
Nebraska (Wolcott), and Saskatchewan (Macoun). Thence over the 
plains and throughout the whole Bocky Mountain district it is almost 
unknown, but reappears on the Pacific Coast, and ranges west in 
migration to the central Aleutian Islands (McGregor), the Pribilof 
Islands (Prentiss), and even occasionally across Bering Strait to the 
coast of Siberia (Nelson). 

Spring migration. — ^At least four-fifths of the dates on the spring 
migration of this species fall in May. This is true for the entire district 
between the winter and summer homes, and the dates indicate that 
the migration in the United States occurs chiefly between May 10 and 
June 1. An unusually early individual was taken April 7, 1875, at 
Erie, Pa. (Sennett). Other spring dates are: Magdalena Bay, Lower 
California, March 12, 1889 (Bryant); Monterey, Calif., April 17, 1903; 
Vancouver Island, British Columbia, April 28, 1894 (Kermode); 
Mount McKinley, Alaska, May 17, 1908 (Sheldon); Kowak Kiver, 
Alaska, May 30, 1899 (Grinnell); Pea and Bodie islands, North Caro- 
lina, April 25, 1905 (Bishop); Lincoln, Nebr., April 27, 1900 (Wol- 
cott) ; southern Ontario, average of six years May 18, earliest May 8, 

1885 (Garnier); Melville Peninsula, May 31, 1882 (Parry); Wellington 
Channel, June 6, 1851 (Greely). The species was taken in Cuba as 
late as May 22, 1900 (Palmer and Kiley); southern Florida, May 25, 

1886 (Scott) ; from New Jersey to the Great Lakes it remains regularly 
to the first week in June — latest Oberlin, Ohio, June 17, 1904 (Jones) ; 
latest Worth, 111., June 20, 1894 (Woodruff) ; and along the coast of 
Maine nonbreeders occur all summer (Knight). 



90 NORTH AMEEICAN SHOREBIRDS. 

Eggs have been taken at Grand Manan, New Brunswick, June 21, 
1S75 (Chene}'); James Bay, June 18, 1896 (Macoun); Cape Fuller- 
ton, June 28, 1904 (Eifrig); Fort Anderson, June 11, 1863 (Mac- 
Farlane); Fort Yukon, Alaska, June 2, 1862 (Lockhart); Lake 
Marsh, Yukon, just hatched, July 2, 1899 (Bishop). 

Fall migration. — At one of the most southern breeding places, 
near York Factory, Keewatih, in 1900, the most advanced young 
were still in the downy stage July 10 (Preble), and yet by this time 
the species is already in full fall migration, and the earliest individuals 
have appeared scA^eral hundred miles south of the breeding range: 
Toronto, Ontario, July 5, 1890 (Fleming); Rhode Island, July 6 
(Howe and Sturtevant); Coronado de Terraba, Costa Rica, July 3, 
1907 (Carriker); Margarita Island, off the coast of Venezuela, July 
7, 1895 (Robinson). The regular fall migration is about a month 
later: Sitka, Alaska, common after July 25, 1896 (Grinnell); Prince 
Edward Island, average of three years August 13 (Bain); Long 
Island, New York, average of seven years August 6, earliest July 17, 
1905 (Latham); Grenada, West Indies, August 24, 1881 (Wells); 
vSanta Catarina, Brazil, August 4 (Sharpe). 

Though most semipalmated plover migrate early, a few stay until 
freezing weather: Ottawa, Ontario, average of five years September 
19, latest September 29, 1885 (White); Prince of Wales Sound, 
Ungava, latest September 25, 1886 (Payne); Prince Edward Island, 
average of three 3'ears, October 13 (Bain); Erie, Pa., rare after Octo- 
ber 1, latest November 2, 1901 (Todd); Point Pelee, Ontario, October 
29, 1905 (Taverner and Swales); Grinnell, Iowa, October 22, 1886 
(Jones); Los Angeles County, Calif., October 17, 1894 (Grinnell). 

Ringed Plover. ^Egialitis hiaticula (Linn.). 
Both coasts of Greenland are included in the breeding range of 
the ringed plover, from the southern end to Sabine Island (Scoresby) 
on the east coast and to McCormick Bay (Schalow) on the west. 
Across Smith Sound from this latter place and one degree farther 
north, at Buchanan Bay, Ellesmere Island, latitude 78° 48' (Feilden) 
is the farthest north the species has been found in the Western Hemi- 
sphere, though north of Europe it has been taken at 83° latitude. 
On the American side it breeds south to Cumberland Sound (Kumlien) ; 
also south to central Europe and Turkestan, and east to the New 
Siberian Islands, and occurs casually east to the Chuckchi Peninsula. 
The winter is spent from the shores of the ^Mediterranean to southern 
Africa and rarely to northwestern India. It has wandered to Chile 
(Sharpe), and to Barbados, September 10, 1888 (Feilden). The 
first arrived at Cumberland Sound in 1878 about the middle of June 
(Kumlien). 

Little Ringed Plover. JEgialitis dubia (Scop.). 
The claim of the little ringed plover to a place among North American 
birds is rather slight. A specimen is supposed to have been taken on 



PIPING PLOVEE. 91 

the coast of Alaska (Harting), and one is recorded from San Fran- 
cisco, Calif. (Ridgway). In each case the bird was far from home, 
for the breeding grounds of the species are in southern Europe, 
central Asia, and north to about 60° latitude. The species winters 
in the northern half of Africa, and in Asia south to India, and the 
Malay Archipelago. 

Piping Plover. Mgialitis meloda (Ord). 

Breeding range. — The northern limit of the piping plover's breed- 
ing range is in Nova Scotia (Bryant), the Magdalen Islands in the 
Gulf of St. Lawrence (Bishop), southern Ontario (Saunders), central 
Manitoba (Bendire), southern Saskatchewan (Macoun), and proba- 
bly southwestern Keewatin (King). It is very local in its distribu- 
tion during the breeding season, and is unknown over most of the 
district mentioned above. Formerly it nested on the coast of Vir- 
ginia at Cobbs Island (Kirkwood), and was fairly common as a breeder 
on the New Jersey coast (Scott). Now it is rare as a breeder any- 
where on the Atlantic coast south of Nova Scotia, though still nesting 
at a few localities south to southern New Jersey (Stone). In the 
interior it nests as far south as Erie, Pa. (Todd); the lake shore in 
northern Ohio (Jones) ; near Lake Michigan in northwestern Indiana 
(Woodruff); and west to central Nebraska (Bruner, Wolcott, and 
Swenk) . 

Winter range. — The coast of Texas (Sennett) and the coasts of 
Florida (Scott) and Georgia (Worthington) constitute the principal 
winter home of this species. Indeed, it is probable that records at 
other places represent stragglers. The West Indies are commonly 
included in the winter range, but the species seems to be only casual 
in migration south of the United States. It was taken once in Porto 
Rico in August (Gundiach); Jamaica in November (Gosse); a few 
in Cuba in April of a single year (Gundiach) ; several on three islands 
of the Bahamas in May (Bangs) and July (Bonhite) ; three indi- 
viduals in the Bermudas in the fall (Reid) . It has occurred occasion- 
ally on the New Jersey coast in winter (Stone). 

Spring migration. — Dates of spring arrival are very irregular. The 
average date on Long Island, New York, is April 7; earliest March 
24, 1884>(Dutcher); eastern Massachusetts, average April 12, earliest 
March 26, 1893 (Mackay); southern Ontario, average May 16, ear- 
liest May 1, 1891 (Fleming). Some other dates of arrival are: Cum- 
berland, Ga., March 10, 1902 (Helme); near Newport, R. L, March 
24, 1903 (King); Erie, Pa., April 16, 1900 (Todd); Oberlin, Ohio, 
May 13, 1907 (Jones); Sioux City, Iowa, May 8, 1904 (Rich); Gib- 
bon, Nebr., May 4, 1888 (Thatcher); Indian Head, Saskatchewan, 
May 16, 1892 (Macoun). Thus, in general, migration up the Missis- 
sippi Valley is much later than at corresponding latitudes on the 



92 NOETH AMEBIC AX SHOEEBIEDS. 

Atlantic coast. Stragglers were noted at Cheyenne, WtC; May 30, 
1S92 (Bond). Jvdesbiirg, Colo., May 17, 1899 (Dawson), and Natash- 
qiian, Labrador, May 31, 1909 (Townsend and Bent). 

Eggs have been taken at Big Charity Island, ^lichigan. May 20, 1903 
(Arnold); Erie, Pa., May 24, 1900 (Todd); Long Beach, New Jersey, 
June 12, 1877 (Scott); Magdalen Island, June 16, 1897; Cedar Point, 
Ohio, June 26, 1903 (Jones); Miller, Ind., June 13, 1905 (Butler); 
^liner County, S. Dak., June 5, 1891 (Patton); near Indian Head, 
Saskatchewan, June 18, 1892 (^lacoun). Downy young were taken 
July 21, 1906, at Big Stick Lake, southwestern Saskatchewan (Bent). 

Fall migration. — The first was seen on the coast of North Carohna 

July 14, 1904 (Bishop); and at Femandina, Fla., August 3, 1906 

(Worthington) . It was taken at Corpus Christi, Tex., aU through 

July, 1SS7 (Sennet t), but these may have been nonbreeders that 

summered on the coast. In general the species migrates so early 

that it is seldom found north of its winter home after August. Late 

dates are: Long Island, New York, August 30, 1889 (Scott); eastern 

Massachusetts, August 26, 1888 (^liUer); Erie. Pa., September 26, 

1902 (Todd). 

Snowy Plover. JEgialitis nivosa Cass. 

Breeding range. — The sea coasts and the shores of the larger lakes 
of western United States constitute the principal breecUng grounds 
of the snowy plover. The species nests at least as far north as Pes- 
cadero, Cahf. (TVillard); Himiboldt Kiver. Nevada (Hanna); Salt 
Lake, L^tah (Ridgway); Comanche County, Kans. (Goss); and on 
the coast of Texas (Sennett). It is extremely local in the interior. 
It breeds south at least to Corpus Christi, Tex. (Sennett), and prob- 
ablv alons: the northern third of the western coast of Lower Cahfomia 
(Belding) . 

Winter range. — It winters in Chile south at least to Calbuco, lati- 
tude 41° S. (Schalow), and thence north in Peru (Sclater and Salvia), 
Guatemala (Salvin), and Mexico (Belding) to the coast of Cahfornia 
at Santa Barbara (Keck). On the Atlantic side it winters as far 
north as Aransas Bay, Texas (Sennett). 

Migration range. — Outside of the regular winter and summer homes, 
the species has been taken once in Brazil (specimen in L'nited States 
National Museum); Margarita Island, off the coast of Venezuela. 
July 2, 1895 (Robinson); Guantanamo, Cuba, July, 1858 (Gundlach); 
Long Island, Bahamas, July 16, 1903 (Riley); Celestim, Yucatan. 
April 12, 1865 (Schott); Whitfield, Fla., May 5, 1903 (TTorthmgton) ; 
Bay St. Louis, ^liss., September 19-20, 1899 (Allison); Toronto, 
Ontario, twice (Fleming); Lincohi, Nebr., May 17, 1903 (Swenk); 
Cheyenne, Wyo., once (Bond); Newport, Oreg., March 24, 1906 
(Shaw); Grays Harbor, Washington, September 3, 1899 (Dawson). 

Spring migration. — The snowy plover was seen in Comanche 
County, Kans., May 12, 1887 (Goss), and at San Francisco, Cahf., 



WILSON PLOVEE. 93 

April 8, 1857 (Hepburn). The species has been taken at Cavanche, 
Chile, in May^ (Schalow), and at Coquimbo, Chile, in June (Sharpe). 
It may prove to be resident in Chile. 

Eggs have been taken in Los Angeles County, Calif., April 25, 
1899 (Robertson), and young, May 1, 1897 (Grinnell); also eggs at 
Santa Cruz, Calif., April 16, 1873 (Cooper). In southern Kansas the 
eggs are laid in late May (Goss) . 

Fall migration. — Fall migrants have been recorded in September 
from Guatemala (Salvin), and in October from the southern limit of 
the range in Chile (Schalow). The species has been taken at San 
Francisco as late as November 1, 1898 (Hornung). 

Mongolian Plover. Mgialitis mongola (Pall.). 

In the summer of 1849 Captain Moore of the Plover in his search 
for Sir John Franklin touched at the Choris Peninsula, Alaska, and 
while there secured two specimens of the Mongolian plover — the 
first and only individuals ever taken in North America. The breed- 
ing range of the species is on the opposite side of Bering Sea, on 
the Commander Islands, and in northeastern Siberia. It migrates 
through Japan and China, and winters from the Philippines to 
Australia. 

[Azara Ring- Plover. Mgialitis coUaris (Vieill.). 

The Azara ring plover is the only true shorebird found in Central America that 
does not range north to the United States. It has a wide distribution in South 
America, south to Argentina, extends north to southern Mexico, and has been taken 
once on Grenada, West Indies.] 

Wilson Plover. Ochthodromus wilsonius (Ord). 
Breeding range. — The Wilson plover is found in summer through- 
out the northern Bahamas (Bonhote) and along the Gulf coast of 
the United States from Florida {Scott) to Texas (Merrill), and 
breeds along the Atlantic coast at the present time as far north as the 
islands off the southeastern coast of Virginia (Dutcher) ; many years 
ago it bred occasionally on the New Jersey coast (Wilson). The 
summer status of the species on the Pacific coast of Lower California 
is not yet definitely settled. It was found, common at Abreojos 
Point, June 17, 1897 (Kaeding), but whether or not it was breeding 
was not determined. 

Winter range. — The winter range is not known with certainty, 
because the West Indies are occupied by a resident subspecies, 
rufinuchus, and sufficient material has not yet been accumulated to 
determine the relative areas occupied by the two forms in winter. 
The northern form winters as far north as southern Florida — form- 
erly northern Florida (Scott) ; the coast of southern Texas (Merrill) ; 
Guaymas, Sonora (Nelson) ; and La Paz, Lower California (Belding). 
Thence it ranges south to the Pacific coast of Guatemala (Salvin). 

Spring migration. — Dates of arrival on the Atlantic coast are : 
Ameha Island, Florida, April 2, 1906 (Worthington) ; Darien, Ga., 



94 ■ NORTH AMERICAN SHOREBIRDS. 

March 19, 1890 (Worthington) ; Cumberland Island, Georgia, March 
18, 1902 (Helme); Frogmore, S. C, March 26, 1886, and March 20, 
1888 (Hoxie); Fort Macon, jST. C, April 15, 1869 (Coues). The 
species has wandered north on the coast several times to Long 
Island (Dutcher) , once to Connecticut (Purdie) , twice to Massachu- 
setts (Townsend), and even to Nova Scotia (Goss). The only record 
for the Pacific coast of the United States is that of the single bird 
taken June 29, 1894, at Pacific Beach, Cahfornia (Ingersoll). 

Eggs have been taken at Sarasota Bay, Florida, April 8 (Moore) ; 
coast of Georgia, April 29 (Bailey) ; Corpus Christi, Tex., April 25 
(Chapman) ; Cobbs Island, Virginia, May 7 (Gates) . 

[Rufous-naped Plover. Ochthodromus wilsonius rufinuchus (Ridgw.). 
The principal home of the subspecies ruious-naped plover is the Greater Antilles, 
whence it spreads to the neighboring coasts of British Honduras and Guatemala; 
probably also to Yucatan. It breeds also in northern South America on the coast 
of Colombia, Venezuela, and Guiana. "While some indi^dduals remain all the year 
on the breeding grounds, others migrate a short distance to several of the islands of 
the Lesser Antilles and to Brazil as far south as Bahia. It is probably this form that 
occurs on the coast of Ecuador and Peru, but from lack of specimens this point is not 
settled.] 

Mountain Plover. Podasocys montanus (Towns.). 
Breeding range. — The mountain plover seems to be confined in 
summ.er to the United States, but closely approaches the boundaries, 
both north and south. In 1874 it was found breeding and not uncom- 
mon on the Frenchman River in Montana (Coues), not far from the 
Canadian boundary, and on Milk River, Montana (Coues), right at 
the line, but so far has not been recorded anywhere in Canada. It 
breeds south to northern New Mexico (Hensha^v); east to north- 
western Texas (Bailey), western Kansas (Fisher), and western 
Nebraska (Bruner), west to Sun River, Montana (Dutcher), Fort 
Bridger, Wyo. (Drexler), Del Norte, Colo. (Hill and Orth), and San 
Miguel County, New Mexico (IMitchell) . 

Winter range.— Thi^ species winters from northern California 
(Cooper), southern Arizona (Osgood), and San Antonio, Tex. (Beck- 
ham), south to Zacatecas, Mexico (Sharpe), and La Paz, Lower 
California (Sharpe). It is one of the few species that winters far- 
ther west than it breeds. 

Migration range. — The more eastern individuals of this species 
probably follow the usual north and south migration route, keeping 
to the plains east of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, but some 
of the more western individuals take a very pecuKar course in migra- 
tion. The species is a tolerably common migrant at Marysville in 
northern Cahfornia (Belding), arriving in November. Whence come 
these November birds? The nearest point of the breeding range is 
northwestern Montana in the vicinity of Great Falls (Williams). To 
reach Marysville from Great Falls the plover must pass through 



SURF BIED. 95 

Idaho and either Oregon or Nevada, but in these three States it is 
unknown, and seems not to be recorded from Utah. So the birds 
that visit Cahfornia are separated from the nearest known habitat 
of the species by a zone about 600 miles wide and containing two 
ranges of high mountains. 

Spring migration. — The mountain plover is among the early 
migrant shorebirds. It arrived on the average at Beloit, Colo.^ 
March 26, earliest March 23, 1890 (Hoskins); Loveland, Colo., March 
18, 1887 (Smith). 

Eggs have been taken at Fort Lyon, Colo., June 9, 1886 (Thorne) ; 
San Luis Valley, Colo., June 10,1873 (Henshaw) ; young just hatched 
at Terry, Mont., June 15, 1898 (Cameron); young at Colby, Kans., 
June 28, 1893 (Fisher); eggs near North Platte, Nebr., July 8, 1859 
(Suckley) . 

Fall migration. — The first was seen at Corpus Christi, Tex., July 25, 
1887 (Sennett); Pecos City, Tex., August 1, 1903 (Ligon). Quite 
a party of them was seen at James Island, Florida, July 20 to August 1, 
1901 (Williams), but they were probably only stragglers. The last 
one noted in 1890 at Beloit, Colo., was on October 15 (Hoskins). 

Surf Bird. Aphriza virgata (Gmel.)- 

The breeding range of the surf bird is unknown, for the bird has 
never been encountered in its summer home. It goes north along 
the Pacific coast of the United States in spring, and has been traced 
all along the coast to the Kowak River, Alaska, where it arrived 
May 29, 1899 (Grinnell). Then it disappears and is not seen again 
until on its way south the latter part of July. The natives say it 
breeds on the mountains a few miles back from the coast. 

The surf bird winters in Chile, as far south as the Strait of Magellan 
(Sharpe), and is known in migration on the coasts of Peru (Tschudi), 
Ecuador (Hartert), Mexico (Xantus), and Lower California (Kaed- 
ing). It arrived at Newport, Oreg., April 25, 1895; April 27, 1897; 
May 3, 1899; April 27, 1900; average of the four years April 28 
(Bretherton) . Agreeing well with this date is its appearance at San 
Geronimo Island, Lower California, March 15, 1897 (Kaeding); and 
the date already given of May 29 at Kowak Kiver, Alaska (Grinnell). 
An extra early date is March 8, 1859, at Puget Sound, Washington 
(Kennerly). The latest recorded date at the Strait of Magellan is 
March 3, 1879 (Sharpe); the species was common at Abreojos Point, 
Lower California, April 19, 1897 (Kaeding) ; a belated bird was taken 
on the Farallon Islands, Calif., June 3, 1903 (Kaeding). Several 
appeared in fall migration at Sitka, Alaska, July 21 (Grinnell) ; New- 
port, Oreg., July 24, 1900 (Bretherton) ; Monterey Bay, Calif., August 
3, 1894 (Loomis) ; Vaqueria, Ecuador, September 16, 1901 (Hartert). 
The species has been noted at St. Michael, Alaska, until the first of 
Octob?r (Nelson), and at Berkeley, Calif., as late as October 24, 1888 
(Palmer). 



96 XOSTH AMEEICAX SHOEEBIEDS. 

Turnstone. Arenaria interpres (Linn.). 

Breeding range. — The turnstone inhabits nearly the ^vhole of the 
Eastern Hemisphere and a small part of the Western. It breeds 
along the whole Arctic coast of Europe and Asia and south to Japan 
and the islands in the Baltic Sea. It ranges eastward across Berino- 
Strait at least to Point Barrow, Alaska (Stone), and breeds south to 
the mouth of the Yukon (Xelson) and on the islands of St. Lawrence 
(Nelson) and St. Matthew (Elliott) in Bering Sea. Its range to the 
northeastward in Xorth America has not vet been definitely settled. 
Two specimens from the west coast of central Greenland have been 
identified by W. Palmer as interyres. No specimens were exam- 
ined by him from any point between Greenland and the Anderson 
River, Mackenzie; the specimens from this latter place are certainly 
morinella. Where the dividing fine between the two forms runs is 
not certain, but since the birds of eastern Ungava are morinella, it 
is probable that this is the form occurring on the islands near the 
Arctic coast of North America and equally probable that the records 
on the islands northwest of Greenland should be referred to interpres. 
The species has been recorded along the whole west coast of Green- 
land, and was found breeding at Disco Bay (KumUen) and on the 
eastern and northern coasts of EUesmere Island ahnost to latitude 
83° (Feilden). The turnstone, therefore, is one of the most northern 
breeding of aU birds. On the eastern coast of Greenland it ranges 
at least as far north as Sabine Island, latitude 74° (Winge). 

^Vinter range. — The species ^vinters on the coasts of nearly the 
whole of the Eastern Hemisphere from Europe and Asia to southern 
Africa, Austraha, and the islands of the Pacific, Indian, and eastern 
Atlantic oceans. 

Spring migration. — The species arrived in the Aleutians at Unalaska 
May 19, 1890 (Palmer). As it "svinters in Hawaii (Henshaw), and is 
not known on the coast of the mainland south of Alaska, it is prac- 
tically certain that these Unalaska birds make the journey of 2,000 
miles in a single flight from Hawaii to the Aleutians. Other dates 
of spring arrival are: Mouth of the Yukon, May 19, 1879 (Nelson); 
Nulato, Alaska, May 23, 1868 (DaU); Point Barrow, Alaska, June 
12, 1882 (Murdoch), June 12, 1883 (Murdoch), and May 29, 1898 
(Stone). The dates of arrival northwest of Greenland are May 27, 
1876, at Cape Henry (Hart), and June 2, 1883, at Cape Baird 
(Greely), each near latitude 82°. 

Eggs were taken July 30, 1876, at Discovery Bay, EUesmere 
Island, 81° 40' N. (Hart), and young were abead}' on the wing July 
9, 1883, at Fort Conger (Greely), a few miles distant. Downy 
young were taken June 4, 1898, at Point Barrow, Alaska (Stone). 

F(Lil migration. — The first arrived on the Pribilof Islands July 2 
(Elhott), and after the middle of the month were abundant. The 



RUDDY TURNSTONE. 97 

last ones noted were: Depot Point, Ellesmere Island, latitude 82° 
45' N., September 11, 1875 (Feilden); Point Barrow, Alaska, August 
29, 1882 (Murdoch), and September 4, 1897 (Stone); Nushagak, 
Alaska, September 21, 1902 (Osgood). A specimen is reported 
taken September 8, 1904, at Pacific Beach, Calif. (Bishop), and one 
September 8, 1892, on Monomoy Island, Massachusetts (Bishop). 

Ruddy Turnstone. Arenaria interpres morinella (Linn.). 

Breeding range. — Undoubted breeding records of the ruddy turn- 
stone are very rare. It nested on the Lower Anderson and Franklin 
Bay (MacFarlane), and specimens of the breeding birds have been 
identified as morinella. Some form of the turnstone, probably 
morinella, breeds on Melville Island (Sabine), on Melville Peninsula 
(Parry), and at Bellot Strait (Walker), but its identity has yet to be 
determined by the examination of specimens. 

Winter range. — The turnstone of the Western Hemisphere ranges 
south in winter to central Chile — at least to Talcahuano (Sharpe) 
and probably to Valdivia (Boeck) — and to Sao Paulo in Brazil 
(Ihering). It winters on the coasts of northern South America, in 
the West Indies, Central America, Mexico, and north to the coast of 
South Carolina (Coues), Louisiana (Beyer), Texas (Merrill), and in 
California at least as far north as San Francisco (Mailliard). 

Spring migration. — The turnstone, notwithstanding it winters so 
far north, is a late migrant. The probable explanation is that its 
breeding grounds in the far north are not ready for occupancy until 
nearly midsummer. It was seen May 7, 1906, on Pea and Bodie 
islands. North Carolina (Bishop). The average date of arrival on 
Long Island, New York, is May 16, earhest May 12, 1897 (Scott); 
eastern Massachusetts, May 5, earliest May 1, 1892 (Mackay); Erie, 
Pa., May 24, 1893 (Todd). It appears to be rare in spring north of 
Maine on the Atlantic coast. 

The species is rare in the interior of the United States, but has been 
noted a few times in nearly every State east of the Rocky Mountains. 
Some dates of arrival are : Starke County, Ind., May 20, 1888 (Butler) ; 
Oberlin, Ohio, May 16, 1901 (Jones); southern Ontario, average May 
27, earliest May 24, 1900 (Nash); Leech Lake, Minn., May 24, 1903 
(Currier); Indian Head, Saskatchewan, May 15, 1892 (Macoun); 
Fort Chipewyan, Alberta, May 25, 1901 (Preble); Fort Resolution, 
Mackenzie, June 1, 1860 (Kennicott); Fort Simpson, Mackenzie, 
May 29, 1904 (Preble); Fort Anderson, Mackenzie, June 10, 1864 
(MacFarlane); Winter Island, Melville Peninsula, June 14, 1822 
(Richardson) . 

It was found off the coast of Venezuela, July 2, 1892 (Hartert)^ 
July 7, 1895 (Robinson), and early July, 1901 (Clark). A few are 
said to remain all summer on Carriacou Island, West Indies (Wells). 

36595°— Bull. 35—12 7 



98 NOKTH AMERICAN SHOEEBIEDS. ^ 

The migrant birds remain in numbers far south of the breeding 
grounds until early June: Jamaica, June 12, 1863 (Field); Arcos 
Keys, Yucatan, June 6, 1900 (Xelson and Goldman); Key West, 
Fla., June 14, 1888 (Scott); Long Island, New York, average June 
4, latest June 9, 1905 (Latham); Toronto, Ontario, June 17, 1894 
(Fleming) . 

Fall migration. — The southward movement must begin in July, for 
by early August migrants have appeared over much of the coasts of 
the United States. Some dates of fail arrival are: Monomoy Island, 
Massachusetts, July 27, 1886 (Gaboon) ; Long Island, New York, average 
August 5, earliest July 27, 1892 (Scott); Monterey,Galif., July 18, 1892 
(Loomis); Fort Ghurchill, Keewatin, July 30, 1900 (Preble); com- 
mon at Gorpus Ghristi, Tex,, after July 1, 1887 (Sennett); Toronto, 
Ontario, July 30, 1898 (Nash); Henley Harbor, Ungava, August 20, 
1860 (Goues); Mingan Island, Gulf of St. Lawrence, August 16, 1887 
(Palmer); Montreal, Ganada, August 17, 1891 (Wintle); Erie, Pa., 
August 24, 1889 (Sennett); Punta Rassa, Fla., August 2, 1886 
(Scott); San Mateo, Tehuantepec, i^ugust 9, 1869 (Sumichrast) ; 
Jamaica, August 13, 1863 (March); Bermudas, August 3, 1874 (Reid); 
Talcahuano, Ghile, September 9, 1879 (Sharpe). Dates of the last 
seen are: York Factory, August 26, 1900 (Preble); eastern Massa- 
chusetts, October 9, 1889 (Miller); Erie, Pa., September 25, 1900 
(Todd); Long Island, New York, September 20, 1889 (Scott), acci- 
dental November 24, 1887 (Scott). 

Black Turnstone. Arenaria melanocephala (Vig.)- 

Breeding range. — The black turnstone breeds commonly on the 
coast of Alaska near the mouth of the Yukon (Nelson) and up the 
Yukon as far as Nulato (Dall and Bannister). It breeds less com- 
monly north to Kotzebue Sound (Townsend) and south to Nushagak 
(McKay). It has been seen on the eastern side of Bering Strait 
nearly to Point Barrow, Alaska (Nelson), and on the western side to 
Herald Island (Nelson), off the northern coast of Siberia, but it is not 
yet known to breed in either of these localities. 

Winter range. — The greater number winter on the coast of Lower 
California, south to Magdalena Bay (Anthony). The species is not 
rare in winter on the Galifornia coast as far north as San Francisco 
(Mailliard), and a few have been known to winter at the Strait of 
Juan de Fuca (Suckley). It may winter occasionally even in south- 
eastern Alaska, for the National Museum has a specimen collected 
February 2, 1897, at Howkan Island, Alaska (Gantwell). 

Spring migration. — The species arrived at St. Michael, Alaska, 
about the middle of May (Nelson) and at Nulato, Alaska, May 16, 
1867, and May 23, 1868 (Dall and Bannister). 

Fall migration. — The black turnstone occurs on the Pacific coast 
from British Columbia (Kermode) to southern Galifornia throughout 



FKAZAR OYSTER-CATCHEB. 99 

the entire summer, but is not known to breed (Grinnell). The pres- 
ence of these nonbreeding birds prevents accurate observations on 
the arrival of the first migrants from the north, but it seems probable 
that early in July some appear on the coast of central California, and 
the species was seen August 6, 1902, on the Coronados Islands, Lower 
California (Grinnell and Daggett). The last leave the delta of the 
Yukon about the middle of September (Nelson) and Nushagak, 
Alaska, September 22, 1902 (Osgood). 

European Oyster-catcher. Hxmatopus ostralegus Linn. 
The southwestern coast of Greenland has been visited several times 
by the European oyster-catcher, once as far north as Godthaab, lati- 
tude 64° (Winge). It is not certainly known to breed there, but its 
breeding range extends from Iceland and western Europe to Turke- 
stan and from southern Europe to the Arctic coast. It winters from 
central Europe to central Africa and to western India. 

Oyster-catcher. Hsematopus palliatus Temm. 

The oyster-catcher ranges south to Santa Catharina, southern 
Brazil (Sharpe), and to Arauco in central Chile (Sharpe). It 
occurs throughout most of the West Indies and Central America 
and along both coasts of Mexico — on the west coast north to the 
Tres Marias (Nelson). On the Atlantic coast it is resident as far 
north as South Carolina (Coues), and formerly was common on the 
Virginia coast (Bailey), and bred at Great Egg Harbor, New Jersey 
(Wilson). There are a few records for the coast of Massachusetts 
(Brewer) and one at Grand Manan, New Brunswick (Boardman). 
At the present time it is rare or accidental north of Virginia, though 
a flock of about 20 was seen July 20, 1907, at Digby, Nova Scotia, 
by W. H. Osgood, of the Biological Survey. It is still resident on the 
coasts of Louisiana and Texas. 

It breeds throughout most of its regular range and probably most 
individuals are nonmigratory. The few that migrate along the south- 
ern Atlantic coast perform their short migrations principally in 
March. Eggs were taken at Corpus Christi, Tex., in 1882, April 
6 to 27 (Goss). Eggs are recorded in Florida from April 10 to May 6; 
and they have been collected on the islands of the Virginia coast 
from May 3 to July 12. 

Frazar Oyster-catcher. Hxmatopus frazari Brewst. 
The Frazar oyster-catcher is apparently nonmigratory, and is the 
common breeding bird of both coasts of southern Lower California, 
whence it ranges along the whole west coast of the peninsula and north 
to San Diego (Cooper), the coast of Ventura County (Evermann), and 
the Santa Barbara Islands (Cooper), casual on the coast of Sinaloa, 
Mexico (Nelson and Goldman). In the northern part of its range 
it is not so numerous as hachmani, whose range overlaps that of 



100 NOETH AMERICAN SHOEEBIEDS. N- 



X 



frazari for about a thousand miles from Ventura County, Calif., to 
Abreojos Point, Lower California (Kaeding). 

Black Oyster- catcher. Hxmatopus hachmani And. 
The coast of western North America is the home of the black 
oyster -catcher, and it breeds locally throughout its range from 
Abreojos Point, Lower California (Kaeding), north to Prince Wil- 
liam Sound, Alaska (Grinnell), and west to Attn Island (Turner) at 
the western end of the Aleutian chain. It winters from the coast 
pf southern British Columbia (Fannin) southward. The short mi- 
'gratK)n is performed during May, and the eggs are deposited at the 
northern end of the range from the middle to the latter part of June. 
This is also the time at which eggs are most commonly found at the 
extreme southern end of the summer home. Downy young were 
taken June 17, 1900, on Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia 
(Osgood). 

[Stone Curlew. CEdicnemus histriaius (Wagier). 
The stone curlew is somewhat generally distributed throughout the lower portions 
of Central America from Panama to southern Mexico, and also ranges into South 
America north of the Amazon. It is nonmigratory.] 

Mexican Jacana. Jacana spinosa ( Linn . ) . 
The Mexican jacana was described originally from Cartagena, 
Colombia, and as that remains still the only record for the country, 
the ascription to this locality was probably an error. The species is 
known from Divala, Panama (Bangs), and thence north on the 
Pacific side to Mazatlan, Mexico (Lawrence), and on the Gulf side 
to the mouth of the Rio Grande (Merrill). It is recorded from Porto 
Rico (Gundlach), Haiti (Ritter), Jamaica (Denny), and Cuba (Vig- 
ors) — rare in the first three and common in Cuba. One was taken 
October, 1899, at Lake Okeechobee, Florida (Mearns) — first record for 
the State. The species is resident throughout its regular range and 
breeds for about half the year from March to September. 

[Black Jacana. Jacana nigra {Gmel.). 
The black jacana is a nonmigratory species inhabiting northern South America 
and occurring in southern Panama.] 

[Colombian Jacana. Jacana melanopygia (Sclater). 
A nonmigratory South American species found principally in Colombia, but ex- 
tending north to Panama.] 



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le N 12 



